N-Sider Q&A Mailbag

Edition: 03-29-2005

The mailbag is back again, a bit late. Sorry about that. Usually I try and post it up very late Monday night, but I was tired so I put it off. I was thinking about it though, so that has to count for something. Anyways, we actually got some decent letters this week. Unfortunately Travis wasnt around to contribute to this weeks edition. That does mean that you all get to experience much more of me this week, which is nice. Oh, and our resident Site Owner and Manager, Cory Faller, has dropped by to answer a question too. It should be fun. Oh, and I actually put a few images in this mailbag. Thats probably a theme that will continue. As always, send your criticisms, commentary, feedback, praise, or rants to qa@n-sider.com.

In this edition Brandon (from Heart Containers) is jealous of Q&As awesomeness, we get more Revolution questions, we find out that Karaoke Revolution might actually be heading to the GameCube, Cory answers a pretty interesting Zelda question, someone wonders why Nintendo doesnt pull a Mega Man and never stop making 2D Mario games, yet another person bases Nintendos entire position on the thoughts of his/her friends, and more.

Heart ContainersPsh. What a Joke

Dear Jeff and Travis,

Why do you have to show me up by updating Q&A so often? You're not just making me look bad; you're making the whole staff look bad. In addition, I think there is a very real possibility of a Dance Dance Revolution Revolution on the Revolution. Just imagine if the trend of placing system names in game titles holds true. Instead of Super, 64, Advance, and DS, we'll have a "Revolution" appended to everything.

My question is, what are the best Revolution inspired names for games you can come up with? You don't even have topics to write about around here! I feel so liberated!

- Brandon Daiker
Heart Containers Prodigy

Jeff: Brandon, Brandonyou disappoint me. Envy is a powerful emotion. Im sorry to see it get the best of you. Though I do understand where youre coming from. Its hard to play second fiddle to my clearly superior column. But hey, at least I published your letter. You are free to bask in your fleeting moment of fame all you like. Just dont make a mess.

As for your smart-aleck question, Ill first point out to everyone that Revolution is nothing more than the development name for Nintendos next home console. Im not getting myself in the habit of answering completely retarded questions, however, being that you already knew that before you wrote the email, Ill humor you. Heres one: Dance Dance Revolution Revolution If anyone out there would like to share some other Revolution inspired names shoot me a letter and Ill publish them in next weeks mailbag. I doubt any of you will though. A hefty NONE of you helped me out in convincing my roommate to give Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat a chance. He still hasnt played it and I cant stand it. Youre all dead to me!

Visit my town! Please, please!

Dear Jeff, Travis, and friends,

Will you visit my Animal Crossing town when the game comes out for the DS?

- GJM

Jeff: Haha. Sure. On the stipulation that the game rocks and I decide to buy a DS myself, I will definitely come and visit your town. Animal Crossing remains one of the most unique gaming experiences Ive had in the past few years. A very fun game.

On an offbeat note, I really hope Natsume gets its act together and starts giving the Harvest Moon license the respect it should. Harvest Moon 64 was great; Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town (GBA) was excellent; Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (GCN) was not. It is a franchise that has so much untapped potential. With new GameCube and DS versions in development, this could be a good year for farming. Then again, if the titles are rushed, this harvest might just be a wash.

Revolution Disc Medium?

Dear Jeff and Travis,

I'm a relatively new visitor to N-sider.com, and this is my first time writing into the mailbag. I decided to answer your pitiful pleas for more mail, so here we are.

First, a few comments about the site. I really enjoy the in-depth articles you guys provide, I just wish they were a bit more frequent. But it's okay, I know they must take a lot more time to put together than the features on most game websites, so I can forgive you. But good job on keeping the mailbag regular lately.

Now for game-related stuff: what format do you think Nintendo will go with for the Revolution's discs? Now that it's all but confirmed that Xenon will not be using HD-DVD, it's definitely plausible that Nintendo would follow their lead and go with the cheaper format. However, they do seem to regard Sony as their main competition, and PS3 will of course use Blu-Ray, so they may see it as a disadvantage if they stick with DVD. What's your take?

And also, how do you think Nintendo will present the Revolution at E3 this year? Tech demos, backroom only or playable demos?

Thanks for answering,

- Craig

Jeff: Im glad someone responded to our nagging. Well be sure to do it more often. I know how you feel and we are making a concerted effort to start updating N-Sider regularly. If all goes well we should have a few different articles going up as April rolls around the corner. In the months ahead, well be doing our best to update in a more routine and consistent manner. With that said, we do pride ourselves on the quality of the work we post up, not the speed at which we do it. Like the company we follow, we are never afraid to delay any article or project if it isnt ready.

In regard to the disc format Nintendo will use with Revolution, there are a few different possibilities. I dont believe for a second that Nintendo will use HD-DVD or Blu Ray, and thats not really a bad thing. It would be far too expensive to include that size of drive and I dont really think most developers are going to need 20 to 50 Gigabytes of space for quite a few years. The real debate here is whether Nintendo will choose to go with the standard DVD format (DVD-9 can hold up to 8 Gigabytes of data) or stick with an upgraded version of the 8cm optical discs the company used for the GameCube. A dual-layered GameCube disc could likely hold about 3 Gigabytes of data (double the discs current 1.5 GB capacity). I myself believe that Nintendo may try and stick with the smaller 8cm disc size. Thats not to say that it wont come up with a way to hold considerable amounts of data on a disc that size, but I see Nintendo sticking with a proprietary format.

In any case, it might not have quite as much storage space as the Xbox 2 or PS3, but it will be comparable. Though Im still hoping Ill get a chance to eat those words come E3. Sony is really jumping the gun to try and make Blu-Ray the standard for High Def video and seem to be intent on making the PS3 the most powerful of the next Gen. systems. It may come back to haunt them.

To answer your last question, I hope that Revolution will be playable and fully shown at E3, but I am doubtful. The system will have a relatively large presence in Nintendos E3 Pre-Show and Im sure Nintendo will show enough videos and demonstrate it just enough to get us all salivating. I doubt it will show up as anything more than talk and video though. The Nintendo DS, GBA, and GameCube will be the main focus on the show floor. Revolution isnt launching until late 2006. E3 2006 will be where Revolution games are playable and Nintendo begins plowing forward into the next generation.

Jerk

Dear Jeffrey,

How do you type with boxing gloves on?

Crapfully yours,

- Adam

Jeff: With a larger keyboard.

Give Me More Mario!

Dear N-Siders,

You maybe have already answered this several times, but let me ask you a (not so) little question:

Do you think there will be an original GBA Mario Jump'n'Run coming out or will the SNES ports, Wario Land and Mario & Luigi (which I'm currently enjoying) be the only ones ... I really would love to play an elegant and original platform game and until now, there are just a few to get nostalgic without being conservative :)

Any rumors would be interesting and compliments for your site,

- Robert
www.2minds.de

Jeff: Nintendo hasnt developed an original classic-style Super Mario game for 15 years. Sometimes I wonder if they even remember how. The opportunity has always been there, it just hasnt happened. I very much doubt that the GBA will ever receive one. The Nintendo DS, on the other hand, is a different story. Though we havent heard anything on it since last E3, Nintendo did unveil what it is calling NEW Super Mario Bros. for the DS. Id have to imagine that it is still in development and will be playable this May at E3. Until then, hold your breath.

Zelda TOO Formulaic?

Hello,

Now before I start, let me say that I've been a dedicated Zelda fan since picking up the original Link's Awakening way back when, but am I the only one feeling the wrinkles in the aged formula? I'm not talking about the gameplay itself - it's as sharp as ever whether we're talking about the 2D or 3D games - but I'm concerned about how it's delivered. Particularly... where's the story? Every time we usually start off with an intriguing intro that has a great amount of potential for an epic and compelling plot. However, it quickly fades into the background once the quest for collecting a certain number of relic(s) X comes clear. Maybe it's just me, but the games quickly become a (masterful) collection of dungeons and little side-quests, with the bare minimum amount of story elements to push it on... and as fun as it has been so far, it's starting to get a little frustrating.

Can you imagine a Zelda game where we get a epic story that serves more purpose than an excuse to go off collecting whatever it is we need to collect this time? A villain who isn't Ganon-related, and has a real personality? A real presence? I would faint in joy. Majora's Mask shook up the formula pretty well (both in story and gameplay) without straying too far... yet so many point and scream "unpure! non-zelda!" in burning disgust. As revolutionary as OoT was in bringing Zelda to the third dimension, I thought its story was dull, verging on non-existant, and for me, that hurts the experience. I don't know. Are my expectations too high for what Zelda is supposed to be? What do you think of all this?

- Derek

Jeff: Im going to hand this one over to Cory. I could answer it, but Im sure our resident Legend of Zelda expert would be more suited. If it involves Zelda, Corys the law. Check out his Legends of Zelda article. Its a bit outdated (it doesnt include Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, Wind Waker, or Minish Cap), but he did recently rewrite the first few chapters, including the chapter on the Imprisoning War (aka Ocarina of Time).

Cory: I both agree and disagree with your points. I think it could be cool to see a Zelda game that propels you from location to location based upon the whims of the storyline, not just your prior knowledge that there are this or that many dungeons that need visiting. Sure, each dungeon may have its own little mini-story, but it only arises as a side-effect of your dull quest to obtain the next requisite gem or pendant or what have you. It could be cool to be propelled by something more compelling than that, something that isn't just a drive to collect a certain number of items. At the same time, however, being driven by a stronger storyline as opposed to a generalized goal poses the very real danger of eliminating exploration. The key mechanic in most Zelda games is that you're given a vague objective, and it's more or less up to you when you want to go achieve it. Sure, you've gotta go get those three orbs. But since it's that inherently vague, you can easily get away with doing a million other things in the process. That's why Zelda games are so packed with side quests and exploratory elements. A more pressing storyline could easily force the Zelda experience into a far more linear mold. Part of what makes the games so involving is that a lot of the storyline is furthered by things that you do, not so much by cinemas that you watch. With heavy control over the order and fashion of your actions, you end up making your own story as you go.

I'd also like to say that I never want to see a Zelda game without Ganon again unless it's either a Four Swords game or it's in some other way directly tied to the Triforce/Hylian myth. Part of what makes me such a fan of the franchise is becoming immersed in Hyrule's mythology. Introducing some other random villain or story always seems to take that away from me. There is no reason whatsoever why Ganon has to be removed to create a compelling villain. The Wind Waker proved this very fact. While Ganondorf had always been portrayed two-dimensionally in the past, The Wind Waker introduced him as a real human being. He had emotions, he had motives, and he was all the more interesting because of it. You could even sympathize with him at points. I'd love to see this approach expanded upon in future Zelda games. Ganondorf as a character has a lot of potential that is only just now starting to be expressed.

Nintendo is no Sega

Nintendo has undoubatably been the king of Handhelds for some time now. Recently I have been finding myself trying to defend them of hate from my friends. They keep saying how they've been delivering inferior products for sometime now with the countless rehashment of gameboy, gameboy pocket, gameboy color, advance, sp and so forth. . . And now Sony comes out with the PSP and everyone is going wackers over this thing. Anoloqu pad, bigger screen, umd and now the DS is turning out to look like somewhat of a half assed system that was released just steal some of the interest. My question is how have we come to reach this point in time where everyone is bad mouthing Nintendo and its ever increasingly harder to defend them? I saw an interview of Reggie Fils-Aime saying how they are going to undoubtably succeed in this market because they are a gaming only company and that is what they do best (develop good gaming systems and games) but why is that newbs like Sony and Miocrosoft are getting there hands into everything Nintendo has and seemingly out doing them. Let us not forget that Sega was a gaming only company too. I really hope they can start delivering in that big kind of way. Putting time and love into the things they do best and I'm sure they will win the market once more.

On a lighter note keep up the good work on the site. . .hope this email didnt blacken that already calloused over love for Nintendo. . .

- Sara Siedelman

Jeff: Dont put so much weight in what your friends are saying. They are not representative of the gaming public as a whole. If they were, the Game Boy Advance wouldnt have sales on par with the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo DS wouldnt have managed to sell over three million units in four months even with a lame launch lineup. Nintendo is most definitely not a Sega. Sega no longer has the ability to make a good decision. I think Shadow the Hedgehog is evidence of that. I never thought Id see the day when a Sonic game had guns. Nintendo is not 70 million dollars in debt like Sega was either. The company is doing just fine financially and if it decides to directly go after Sony (which I hope it will) with Revolution, it certainly has the talent and capability to do so. In any case, I dont believe for a second that Nintendos best days are behind it.

Wavebird Woes

Dear Jeff and Travis,

1) I'm not sure if you've answered this before (sorry to ask this if you have) anyways lets say the Revolutions revolution is in the controller with the gyroscopes. Sony and Microsoft could just come out with new controllers that include gyroscopes. Like Sony did to include the N64's control stick, it came out with dual schock, which I absolutely think suck. To my point: There has to be something more revovlutionary to Revolution that Sony or Microsoft can just counteract with coming out of one of their own. What do you think it is?

2) I love the Wavebird and I think all controllers should be wireless, but my wavebirds have the nasty habit of feaking out in the middle of gameplay i.e. not responding well. So I have to turn it on n' off to get it to work right. Im curious to know if this happens to you or are mine just possesed.

P.S. I tend to take good care of my controllers i.e. I dont slam them on the floor when i loose.

Thanks

- David Treado

Jeff: Ah, the good old Revolution question. Here we go.

1. I dont know. None of us do at this point. The only thing I can do is speculate and, at this point, I dont even feel comfortable doing that. You are right that the Revolution is going to have to be more than a Rumble pack or Control stick. It is going to have to truly be something that the other systems arent designed to do if its going to successfully differentiate Nintendo. I believe the system will feature a combination of different features, much like the DS with its dual screens, touch screen, and microphone. One feature will undoubtedly be a focus, but none will solely define the Revolution.

2. I myself own two Wavebirds and use them almost exclusively for all my gaming needs. It is definitely the best wireless controller on the market. Ive never had any problems with mine though. Thats a very strange problem. If anyone else has problems with their Wavebirds randomly freaking out shoot me an email. Mine has been nothing short of reliable.

Trade Up

If you could trade one Nintendo franchise of equal value with an exclusive franchise of either Sony's or Microsft's, which would you trade, and why?

- Alan

Jeff: If its of equal value, what is the point of trading it at all? I suppose Id like to see the main Final Fantasy series become a Nintendo exclusive once more. I wouldnt trade any of my favorite franchises for it though.

Nintendo Enthusiast Summit

I visited your site for the first time this weekend, and I must say that this IS the best Nintendo resource available anywhere!!! Needless to say, your site is now my homepage and I will be checking often for 'Revolution' updates! Okay, now that I've kissed some butt, I'd like to ask you a question. One of the articles I read was a round-up of the Nintendo Enthusiast Conference at the Nintendo HQ. Is that open only to members of the press? I would pay good money to go it, seeing that I've been a Nintendo devotee since before the days of the first NES home console. Namely, the first time I played Donkey Kong on my ColecoVision in 1983. Anyway, I'm hoping that you might be able to provide some information since I've been dying to take a tour of their headquarters in Redmond. Keep up the great work on the site,

- Matt Ray

Jeff: Unfortunately yeah, the Nintendo Enthusiast Summit is only open to certain members of the media. Its a smaller event thats held once in a while where Nintendo shows off a few GBA and GameCube games. Space World was the only annual event that was really open to the public and that is both not happening anymore and in Japan. I have yet to visit Nintendo of America myself either, so youre not alone. Its rare that Nintendo even invites members of the media to stop by. It is still a very secretive company. Weve been trying to set up a visit to Retro Studios for roughly a year. I appreciate the compliments though. We had Jason attend last years Enthusiast Summit and he wrote up a great piece. I really enjoyed it. You can read the article here.

Letter of the Week

Hi guys. Thanks for posting my question and answering it in the 3-15-05 edition of Q&A (I had the question about Karaoke Revolution) While I do believe you are correct about having to buy games from companies to get their attention I wanted to do more I wanted to do everything I could to try to get this game over to the cube So, I e-mailed Konami, and I e-mailed Harmonix Music about the matter. I received a VERY interesting response to one of the e-mails, and I thought I would give you guys the exclusive info since you were awesome enough answer my last e-mail

I sent both companies an e-mail very similar to this: (You dont have to read all of it if you dont want to... but I thought I would provide it just in case you wanted all the info)

From: _________
Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 3:54 PM
To: __________
Subject: Karaoke Revolution For Nintendo Gamecube

Hi, I recently played Karaoke Revolution at a friends house and I loved it! Its a great game! I was so excited by it that I went to the store to buy all three volumes but was quickly disappointed to find out that the series is not available for the Nintendo Gamecube. I assumed it may have been because of difficulties getting a microphone hooked up to the system but with the new Nintendo released microphone that came bundled in with their Mario Party 6 game, it seems like it might be just a little bit easier to port the series over. I also read a press release that Nintendo will make the voice recognition technology available to other companies if they are interested.

So my question is this: Is there a possibility of seeing my favorite music game released on the Nintendo Gamecube? I would buy all three editions the day they came out, even if they were just straight ports of the PS2 version. (The music genre is rapidly growing on the Gamecube with games like Donkey Konga 1, 2, and 3. And Dance Dance Revolution hitting the shelves soon. I would love to see Karaoke Revolution make an appearance soon too) Any information you could provide me would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time. I appreciate the fine quality you put into your games.

Sincerely,
_______________

Okay Now the first response I got back was from Konami They game me exactly what I expected: A generic keep checking our website for updates response (Show below)

Dear ______,

At this time there has been no official announcement of Karaoke Revolution being made available for the game cube, but that could change. Please check http://www.konami.com/gs for all game futures related announcements, as they will always be announced there first.

--
Customer Service
Konami Digital Entertainment America
support@konamiusa.com

Nothing big, although the but that could change comment was intriguing But what is really interesting is the response that I just got from Harmonix music. I have included their response below

Hi _______,

My apologies for taking so long to respond - I was out for two weeks and I'm still catching up.

We're delighted to hear that you enjoyed the games. If there were a Gamecube version in the works, we wouldn't be able to talk about it until it was officially announced by our publisher, Konami. Such announcements are common at the E3 convention in May. ;-)

Hang in there,
-_______

Now, I removed his name and e-mail address just in case he can get in trouble for e-mailing me such a hint. But did you see it? I really think he is alluding to a big announcement at E3 revealing Karaoke Revolution coming to Gamecube. The two big clues to me are the ;-) and the Hang in there Now he is either hinting at something big, or he is just tormenting me (I hope its the first) I have his full name and e-mail address if you want to ask him yourself (just ask and Ill sent it to you)

Anyway my question: Do you think that he is letting me in on a little inside information, or do you think he is just messing with my mind? Is Karaoke Revolution Coming to the cube?

I am sending this to you because I value your opinions and I think this is really exciting news (And news no one knows about unless you guys have all signed those information disclosure contracts) Anyway I would love to hear your thoughts on this whole matter

Thank you!

- Jason Blakepro Blake

Jeff: Very interesting response. Whats more interesting is that you actually had the motivation to email not only Konami but Harmonix (the games developer) as well. Its good to know we have readers capable of digging up the dirt. Actually it sounds like a logical step to take now that Konami is releasing Dance Dance Revolution with Mario for the GameCube. I wouldnt be at all surprised to find out the game is named Karaoke Revolution with Mario. Bundling the games together or putting them both on a single disc would be even more enticing. It could prove to be a very big seller if Konami and Nintendo push the two games together. Of course, this is assuming that it even happens. Its definitely made its way into my own little Rumor Mill.