After an incredibly lengthy hiatus, our long-neglected Q&A section is back and here to stay. We know we've tested your faith before, but trust us: every effort will be made to have this section updated regularly every Monday night. So please, send us all your Nintendo-related queries at qa@n-sider.com.
Well, it seems that the rumors of 3rd party developers dropping GCN support is coming true. Sega drops all sports games for GCN and specifically states that the GameCube is not the platform to develop realistic sports games for. Hopefully, this event will not cause Nintendo's support to fall like dominoes. ALthough, I feel that if someone bought a gamecube for the sole purpose of quality sports games and 3rd party support...well, that wasn't such a smart move. I feel that Nintendo's own games are the main (and possibly only) reason to own a GameCube. I can sacrifice Sega sports games, Tecmo fighting games, ect; As long as there is a steady supply of Mario, Link, Samus, DK, starfox, and so on. And by the looks of it; 1080, F-Zero, Zelda, and the prospect of more Starfox, Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart and Pikmin: I will be quite satisfied. Plus the occasional 3rd party games or...ports, will plug in the holes between Big N hits (THANK-YOU CAPCOM). By the ! way, what kind of game is Mario 128 going to be?
Josh: With the flurry of GCN cancellations in the past few weeks, it's understandably easy to get discouraged, Jason. However, it's important to keep the positives in mind. EA recently pledged their support of over 20 titles to GameCube, many with exclusive GBA connectivity and input from Shigeru Miyamoto himself. And a large majority of these titles are...you guessed it, realistic sports games. You also mentioned Capcom's support, which is additional evidence against the "third parties hate Nintendo" theory. In addition, you may want to further reserve your judgements until after E3....
Trust us, Nintendo is aware of their current third party relations, and they are working to rectify the situation as we speak. But despite some troubles and game cancellations, things really aren't quite as bad as many naysayers are making them out to be.
As for Mario 128, virtually nothing is known about the title. Rumours suggest that the game will see a Japanese release before the year's end, however; if this is true, expect the title to be highlighted in a big way at this year's E3.
NintendoNext-Gen Forums Josh: Thanks for the heads-up. Unfortunately, sometimes certain individuals will post the hard work of others on forums without giving credit where it's due. Short of going around and policing boards, there's really nothing we can do.
Dean: This was actually brought to our attention a while back, as you can see I (DrEvil) Took care of the matter. So to quote Perfect_dark9 of their forums, "You got OWNED!!"
With the departure of RARE what will happen to all those promised games including "Perfect Dark."
Josh: Franchises owned by Rare such as Perfect Dark and Conker will now only be seen on the Xbox, as well as any original franchises Rare had in the works for the GameCube, including Kameo: Elements Of Power. Many sources indicate that a new installment of Donkey Kong Country is in the works internally at Nintendo.
I think the key to understanding the wisdom of Nintendo's current business approach is to consider its history within the industry. Nintendo released the NES when few analysts felt the home video game market was viable. Despite this, Nintendo was able to fuel a second rising of home video games. Nintendo did this through carefully controlling risk and making conservative decisions while simultaneously making truly great games. When you consider the magnificent games that are and will be available for the GameCube, the fact that Nintendo makes a profit on every game and system sold, and the tremendous capital assets the company has stockpiled, I think you'll realize that the outlook for the GameCube and the company is actually quite good. Nintendo understands that expansion like that the industry is going through now never lasts forever -- after all, it rose from the ashes of the last great video game industry contraction.
Josh: I completely agree. When looking at sales figures, it's easy to assume that Nintendo is "losing" in the console race this generation, but profits tell a far different story.
How is Mario Kart coming along/when will we hear more about it? Josh: Nothing concrete is known about the title. Miyamoto has stated previously that he wants to take the series in a new direction, and is implementing/has implemented new, innovative features within the game. He has also hinted that the game may feature LAN play, although Internet play seems to be unlikely at this point. Expect a full blow-out of the title at E3.
Lady Bow is average boo buddy as was born as a nintendo character from super mario series in, she is the princess of the boo and she lives in a Boo's Mansion. Actually lady bow's my favorite nintendo character she's hot and beautiful alright. Then she likes scaring, her boos, paper fans, and bows on the tips by her head, she also got spooking and laughing maniacally. And now I design to create a character for Lady Bow when she's had a her daughter, her name is "Ribbon". She's a younger sweet child of boo buddy. She looks pink, niceful, she's very brave, and she can actually wear a ribbon on her head look very adorable! Her favorite mother is "Mommy" and she want to grow up to be her mommy as a princess. And is also between mother and daughter, as I created of my idea for "Lady Bow's Daughter"!
Josh: Hmmm. Uh...good job?
I was wondering if Ghost Recon for the GCN had online gameplay options? Josh: Sorry, the GCN version of Ghost Recon has no online option. Most games will not, provided Nintendo remains stagnant on the issue of online play.
Do you have an estimate as to when N-universe is going to be up and running? Is it *ever* going to be up and running? Josh: What? Sorry, I couldn't hear you. I was too busy listening to N-Universe being up and running.
Dean: You see, the Universe WAS up and running, in fact, it ran away. It ran so far that we're trying to catch it. Just like those pesky pokemon... Okay okay, I'll stop with the lame
jokes; the truth is, we launched without enough content. The site was there, but the cards weren't. So what we've done now is closed temporarily, assigned an exclusive art staff to the Universe,
and now we're just getting the content there. If you think you have good art skills, and by good I mean amazing, email the N-Sider Staff.
Hey, i love your site and i was hoping you could answer a problem that i am having with my Gamecube. When i put a memory Card in slot A, and access the memory card screen, it says nothing is plugged into the outlet. It shows up on in Slot B, so i am very confused. Please Help.
Josh: Sounds like a problem with the slot A port itself. Give Nintendo's tech support a call at 1-800-255-3700 -- they'll probably have you send your GameCube in for repairs.
Q&A By: Josh Righter & Dean Bergmann
Send your questions for next week's Q&A!Third party support?
-Jason
Theft!
Just wanted to inform you guys that this site has posted stuff directly from your ED secrets feature on their forums. This was posted by a staff member. Take care.
-Anonymous
Rare games: on GameCube?
-Brad
Sales aren't everything
-Anonymous
Mario Kart status report
-Anonymous
What?
-Shawne Vinson
No online for Ghost Recon
-Anonymous
A good question
-jf
Slot A troubles
-Ian