We've been away for a bit, but you never thought we'd leave you for good, did you? Of
course not. Check out this week's questions on second-hand games, Nintendo online, mistakes made by me, and more. Remember to
send in your questions to qa@n-sider.com.
Hey, I'm glad Silicon Knights isn't working on Thornado. I mean, could they even do the game justice, given that the game
started development over at Factor 5. Okay, enough of this smart-assery. Now, to the point. Every once in a while, I'll
pick up a used game, but I feel guilty because the companies responsible don't get anything for the sale of a used game.
Most of the games are ones that I wouldn't have bought in the first place, but I bought Smash Bros. Melee used because I was
broke and wanted the game. So, on to my question. Is it wrong to buy used games? Do you ever purchase a previously owned
game to save a little cash? Please let me know.
Josh: Haw, haw. Yes, it's true -- in my haste and tired state, I accidentally credited Thornado to Silicon Knights
in the last Q&A update. Please kill me now. As for used games, I don't think you should feel guilty at all. There's nothing
wrong with getting something at a bargain because you don't necessarily have the cash at the moment, or maybe just because
you don't feel like shelling out the $50 for a new copy. If the game-makers do their job, enough people will want the game
new to give them a tidy profit.
Hey Planetgamecube.....not really..(yes. I, too, have to add some sarcasm to this page) Josh: The feature was put together by our good friend Cory, so drop him a
line and bug him about it if you want it updated. Or maybe he'll even respond personally in this mailbag! He's allegedly been
working on an update for some time now...perhaps it got to be more in-depth than he anticipated.
Cory: Heh... Heh heh...
Yeah, it's not done yet. I keep telling you people dates, and then I just keep going ahead and breaking them. So enough of that. I'm sorry, but I just can't give you guys any more dates. I'll just end up breaking them out of principle. I wanna say in the next couple weeks, but we'll see, eh?
And to make matters worse, I was just at a conference in Redmond at NOA where I was told that there is, in fact, an official Zelda timeline internally at Nintendo. One that makes sense of everything... and even incorporates storyline elements from games that have yet to be released! I asked if my ideas for making the Wind Waker work were correct... and was met with a less than reassuring reply. I fear that if I were to "think outside of the box" enough to grasp the true timeline, I would end up pulling facts and theories out of thin air. And that's not something I want to do. I want this timeline I'm working on to be based solely on the pieces that have already been presented. So I'm going to go along with my current theories, even if they turn out to ultimately be incorrect, since I think they make a bit of sense on their own merits. When the next game makes mincemeat of my entire chronology... I guess it's back to the drawing board. Oh well, that's the job!
I was with a bunch of friends today talking about games and online stuff, Xbox Live came up and i thought why is Nintendo not
going online with any of their games? They have such great oppurtunities, and are letting them pass up! I can list a few
games that would be amazing if they were online! Josh: Though there is no denying that playing those games online would be fantastic for many of us, Nintendo has
stated time and time again that they don't believe the online business model is currently profitable enough for them to be
involved in. Whether this is an accurate statement or not is debatable, but if it becomes evident that more people are going
to be going online with their console in the future, or if it becomes evident that costs for online gaming are going to
plummet in the future, expect Nintendo to be there. I think we may see online emphasized a bit more next generation from
them.
Hey Josh,
Josh: You sure would be, Will. I apologize for the error.
Got a couple questions for you guys: first and foremost is what are the chances that the GBA's successor will be able to play
N64 caliber games. It would be great to play N64 classics on the go and my only doubt is that it would be difficult for
Nintendo to fit all the necessary buttons and sticks on the handheld. 2. Now that Treasure has released Wario World what new
project(s) have they taken up, will Nintendo entrust another franchise to the proven developer? 3. How likely do you think
it is that 100 Mario will mature into a full fledged killer app during the Gamecube's lifetime.
Josh: 1.) If you're talking in a technical sense, the GBA's successor should easily be able to keep pace with N64
games, if not output graphics superior to the console. As far as getting ports to control correctly and intuitively on the
handheld, that's another matter. 2.) You know, that's a very good question about Treasure. I'm not sure what they're working
on at the moment, but I am very interested to know. I'll try and get back to you in the next Q&A update. 3.) I still believe
Mario 128 is coming for the GameCube. Whether it will be a killer app or not is anyone's guess. One thing is for sure,
though: the next Mario game, no matter what system it's on, will have to move units based on something other than the Mario
name, as Mario Sunshine proved.
This is more of an opinion-oriented question than a query, so I hope you all
wouldn't mind putting in your two cents on it.
Josh: I think you hit a large part of it on the head with the "familiarity" concept. Many more people like football
than Metriod, and so consequently many more people are going to be eager to play a game that lets them simulate football.
There's also no denying that for a fan of the game (and even for some who normally wouldn't like football), games like Madden
are fun to play. Are they more fun than Metroid or Smash Bros.? Obviously, that depends on your tastes as a gamer...but
someone torn between the latest Madden and Metroid could be swayed in the end by the idea of taking their favourite team to
victory, even if they thought they'd have an equal amount of fun with both games. Sports games take a mainstream activity and
make a videogame out of it, so they're always going to have the edge in terms of popularity. Q&A By: Josh Righter.
Send your questions for next week's Q&A!Smart-assery.
-LoneMaleGerudo
Our infamous Zelda storyline.
I understand that you are busy people, so I'll just get to the question. Do you remember your feature titled The Legends of
Zelda? Well, I wanna know....where does Wind Waker fin into that pretty convincing story line? Yeah, I know....you probably
heard this question before, but the people wanna know!!
-James Quintana
Nintendo online = NOPE
-Super Smash Brothers Online
-Mario Kart Online
-F-zero online
-Animal Crossing Online
Why won't they listen to their fans and put some online games on the market, even 3rd party games such as Jedi outcast
would have been great online. What's your opinion?
-Bobby
Errors by me.
Would I be right in saying that Thornado was coming from Factor 5, not as
you stated in the latest Q & A, from Silicon Knights?
-//will s.
The classic list.
-Bobby
Sports games.
Why is it that games like Madden 2004 sell two million copies in three
weeks, while games like Metroid Prime get little to no such recognition?
Friends of mine and I have discussed this almost ad nauseum and have come to
the conclusion that there is a factor of familiarity coupled with
accessibility that makes it so popular. The multiplayer mode is most likely
a very attractive portion of the package, but then games such as Smash Bros.
Melee and F-Zero exist. While the former doesn't really offer a deep and
engrossing single-player experience, the latter certainly does. Any
thoughts from you all?
-Lurch