N-Sider Q&A
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Now that i think konami has been and is still part of the gamecube bandwagon do you think its likely to see MGS2 on Gamecube?
Pete: Well, I personally don't expect to see Metal Gear Solid 2 on any platform but the Playstation 2 in 2001. Hideo Kojima did say they aren't even working on the XBox MGSX at this point, so if the game is to end up on other platforms, I don't see it before 2002. Since Hideo Kojima has been quite vocal about his displeasure with certain limitations of the PS2 hardware, I'd obviously love to see a GameCube version. According to Kojima-san, to port MGS2 to other consoles would require certain elements to be recoded from the ground up -- it sounds a bit tricky, but anything is possible.
Will Mario Kart advance be released in the Summer or 2001 or the first Qtr of 2002, I keep seeing different dates on various sites. Also, are the pictures online in the finalized version of the game (if any) or are they similar to Mario Kart R, before Mario Kart 64 was done? Mario Kart 64 and Super Mario Kart a two of my favorite games ever, thats why I am interested in everything that happens with Mario Kart Advance, and possibly Mario Kart for gamecube. Is there a way I can reserve a copy of Mario Kart Advance through ordering from Japan? If not, is there someone in Nintendo that I can talk to about this?
Thank you for reading.
Brian Gallo
Pete: I'm not sure what's up with Mario Kart Advance. I think it's a safe bet that this game was delayed because of the addition of online functions. The game has been in a solid playable build since last August, so I don't think development problems would have anything to do with it. The screenshots of Mario Kart Advance are indeed from the Game Boy Advance build and that's what the game will look like. In motion it looks even better, believe me.
I do think Mario Kart Advance could be a launch title for the North American Game Boy Advance launch, but don't quote me on that one.
Will the new Warner 3" DVD movie discs play in the Gamecube?
-David E.
Pete: Good question. For those of you who don't know, Warner is planning to release a "mini" DVD format which is 3 inches in size, just like the GameCube disc. I can almost guarantee these discs won't be compatible with the GameCube drive. Nintendo wants to keep the GCN as a closed platform to prevent easy piracy.
"This would mark the first time that Sega has officially release a Sonic title on a Nintendo platform". Was there ever some unofficial Sonic game on a Nintendo platform?
-David
Pete: I'm not sure, the reason why I worded it that way was because I could've sworn I've seen some kind of Sonic title on a Nintendo platform or a Nintendo emulator or something along those lines.
N-sider,
Lately, the possibility of Square support for GameCube and Gameboy Advance has been pretty volatile. Just when Square makes an announcement that they'll be releasing Final Fantasy games on GBA, you get some typical Yamauchi comments that seem to shut things down. While I always take statements from Nintendo's emperor with a grain of salt, it looks like the Square drama won't be ending anytime soon. But what about Enix?
Enix's Dragon Quest/Warrior series, while only of medium popularity in the United States, has always been huge in Japan. It's bigger than Fire Emblem, and much bigger than Final Fantasy. We know Enix abandoned Nintendo because of the cartridge medium. Now that the GameCube's got cheap big-storage optical discs, can we expect to see Enix return? Or would something else keep them away from Nintendo?
-Abobo
Pete: Enix hasn't said much about the GameCube. It's kind of odd actually, because Enix has yet to announce or show a single Game Boy Advance title as well. Hopefully Enix will let loose on their Nintendo plans soon, because Enix is obviously one of the best RPG makers in Japan. I don't think anything would keep Enix away per se, but Enix does generally tend to pick out the console with the largest user base in Japan and run with it. Right now that's the Playstation 2, but I'm confident they'll support the GameCube as well.
How many polgons per sec was the Malice and other xbox demos running at and how do these demos compare to the spaceworld demos in terms of power.
Pete: I believe the XBox demos were running off a NV15 GPU with the standard XDK kit (128MB of RAM, Pentium III 733 Mhz, etc.). Microsoft didn't spit out poly numbers, but I'd assume it was in the 2-4 million polygons per second range. The geometrey itself didn't seem all that impressive in the demos. Things like bump mapping were nicely implemented but geometry wise I think you could see something comparable on the PS2 or even Dreamcast.
Is there a possibility of Nintendo revealing motion sensor technology implemented in the gamecube controller? I know they experimented with it on GBC with a Kirby title. Was it successful?
Pete: It's possible I suppose. The Kirby title you speak of did sell quite well in Japan, but I'm not sure how well motion sensor technology would translate to console gaming.
Hello. Dinosaur Planet is supposed to come out on n64 during april. Our friends at ign say it will come out for the CUBE. If it does, doesn't that mean that it will be available for launch since it was scheduled for the n64 in april?
-edd
Pete: That would make sense wouldn't it? The thing that often happens with Rare games, however, is that the designers at Rare certainly don't run out of ideas. So generally their games get delayed because there's always some cool new feature that they come up with half way through development. I think the Dinosaur Planet team will find the GCN opens up a whole new world of possibilities and they might choose to spend more time fine tuning the game for the new hardware. It depends all around, I suppose. Personally I'd love to have DP on the GameCube this Christmas, it would be a nice way to tide Nintendo fans over until Zelda Cube.
Ok. so we all know about sega becoming a third party. my question is, does sega or i guess visual concepts have any plans of bringing their incredible sports titles to any of the next gen systems? obviously i would most like to see these titles on gamecube. in my mind, sega's nba and nfl franchises are better than those of ea sports respectively.
If there is one thing that nintendo couldn't possibly have too much of, it's sports titles. i have also heard that virtua fighter 4 is going to be a playstation 2 exclusive. what is that about? if sega is indeed trying to make up for the enormous amount of money they lost, why wouldn't they release it as a cross platform game? lastly, i have also heard that sonic will be coming to the game boy advance. does this mean that there is a greater chance of seeing this pop up on gamecube because of the link between the cube and game boy advance?
I know sega hasn't "officially" announced development for the cube, but i think this is due largely to the fact that nintendo wants to keep a tight lid on things as usual. you can bet though at e3 the most surprises will be coming from the heads over at nintendo. just think about all that is to come.
-Daniel E.
Pete: Sega officials did say that Sega's famous 2K sports series would likely be appearing on various platforms in the future. Whether that means the GameCube will get some 2K2 sports titles or 2K3 remains uncertain, but chances are sooner or later, you'll be enjoying Sega's NFL, NBA, Virtua Tennis, and NHL titles on GameCube.
Virtua Fighter 4 has currently only been announced for the Playstation 2. I'm pretty sure this game will end up on both the XBox and GameCube though. As we've seen with the EA fiasco, companies don't always announce what platform they're working on right away. You'll be seeing a lot of GameCube Sega titles. I imagine a blue hedgehog is already a part of their GameCube plans.
I am utterly stunned by what Mr. Yamauchi has said about Square. Has he gone insane? The N64's market in Japan would have probably doubled or more if Square had a few games for it, not to mention what those games would have done for the N64 in the U.S. Now that Square has allowed an opening for them and Nintendo to form a possibly amicable (and most definitely profitable) agreement, the idea that Nintendo will now shut that opening and take themselves away from a major coup in a developer signing is reckless, misguided, and stupid.
The Square advantage is one of the biggest Sony had over Nintendo and Sega. We as Nintendo loyalists felt left out when Square jumped ship to Sony. We thought the spoiled and treacherous executives at Square have abandoned those who helped make them famous. Now we are again left out in the cold because one old, senile, cryogenically preserved bighead at Nintendo would not leave his ego in check? That leaves me and a lot of people even more frustrated at the games we missed for being Nintendo loyalists.
For every great Zelda game we played we missed out on 3 great Square games. Missing one generation of Square games is enough. We expected some great payoff later on when Square puts out a series of multi-disk games, either original or remakes of ones we missed, on the Nintendo GameCube. If that doesn't happen, and it's due to Nintendo's stubbornness, not Square's, it would be a tragedy. I hope that doesn't happen. I hope either Yamauchi will return to his deep freezer for good or someone shrinks his head so that it doesn't overshadow Mt. Fuji anymore. I do realize how much he's revolutionized console gaming in the past.
However, if something doesn't happen between now and October, many of us will be adding a PS2 to our shopping lists. And years from now when all the dust settles Yamauchi's legacy will be reduced that of a man who came close to beating the big overwhelming corporations but was too occupied with personal vendetta to take it to the next level.
-Frustrated gamer.
Pete: Believe me, you're not alone there. I would agree it would be almost heartbreaking if Nintendo denied Square a license if they were willing to support the GBA *and* the GameCube. I think that's what it boils down to. There are reports indicating Square does want to support the GameCube as well (probably because they can't get a GBA license without it), so I'm hoping Nintendo's more level headed PR reps can handle talks. Getting Square on both the GameCube and Game Boy Advance would be quite a coup, to put it lightly.
Hello!
I'm very much looking forward to the new Game Boy Advance, mostly because I just miss the old 2D type games I loved on SNES. What I wanted to know, will this just be a SNES handheld? From the game shots I saw, it looks that way. I was hoping it could do some better animations, like Street Fighter Alpha on PSX.
Eric
Pete: Game Boy Advance is a good deal more powerful than the Super NES. It's basically what it was said to be-- twice as powerful as a SNES. In motion I think you'll be able to see the system's power quite clearly. Street Fighter Alpha on the Game Boy Advance certainly would be great.
As much as nintendo fans want square do we really need them to have fun on the gcn. I had hella fun on the 64 without them and they don't make or break anyone. When nintendo needed them they left them high and dry now they see nintendo making a comeback and want back on the bandwagon.
I'll be happy with all the dev. that although didn't give their best efforts atleast let out one game on the 64. Everyone is so scared to say ms is making a mistake just cause sony did it.
Well this ain't 95 and this ain't the ps vs. the 64. Sony had a lot of things going its way then none of which ms share. The man speaks his mind and people get mad, I'd take sega over square anyday. My question is why the negative additude from sites like this, I know square is good for atleast street cred but do you really think they make or break a system?
Also would you rather have sega or square?
Pete: Well in Japan, I don't think anybody would argue, Square really is very, very important. Personally I don't see the reason to hold a grudge...after all, yeah Square did ditch Nintendo, but it's not like Capcom, Enix, Namco, Konami, etc. did Nintendo any favors during the N64 era when it was needed either. We really don't know what is going on behind the scenes, but I would be disappointing for me if Nintendo would deny a huge 3rd party developer on the basis of past relations.
Hi,
My question concerns the possibility of Nintendo making GC backward compatible with N64 games. I know the disk/cartridge format is completely different, but with all those "extensions" on the bottom of the GC, could there be an attachable external cartridge slot made as an accessory to the GC? I don't know about the marketing viability of such a device, but is it technically possible? Would the GC hardware be able to process data from a N64 cartridge assuming it can somehow read it?
How likely do you think such an accessory would be made by Nintendo or an aftermarket company? Would there be a market for these to make them worth while?
The reason I ask is because I don't want yet another system cluttering up my gameroom. I've already have an SNES and an N64 and all their related goods... cartridges, controllers, joysticks, etc... and I'm anticipating a GC and possibly a PS2 later in the year. Having an external cartridge reader with the GC so that I can scrap my N64 unit would be much appreciated.
Thank you for answering.
William.
Pete: Technically I'm not even sure if that is possible. What might be more of a possibility is if you could somehow download a N64 ROM onto a Panasonic SD memory card and then play it on your GameCube that way. An "aftermarket" company might make an add-on device or a emulator type program for the SD Cards, but I think the chances of Nintendo doing so officially are slim to none.
Wich operating system will the GameCube be running on????
Any idea off GameCube`s internet capabilities???
Yours......Sheika
Pete: I'm not even sure if the GameCube has a operating system akin to say Windows. I know for sure Windows is not part of the GameCube hardware or software design in any way. OpenGL is supposedly integral to the GameCube development environment, however. We have really no clue about GameCube's net capabilities except for the fact that there will be a 56k and a broadband modem and that Nintendo is already under development with networking stuff.
Game Boy Advance...one week closer...must keep...updating Q&A until then! Have a good week and keep those questions coming.