This Week in Nintendo History: August 23rd to August 29th

Howdy folks, and welcome once again to our weekly look back at the history of Nintendo. This week we'll take a look at Mario, dolphins, Metroid, and more. It's a pretty good week with some fun filled facts. Let's jump right into it.

First up this week we'll travel to August 23rd, 2005. Pac 'n Roll was released for the Nintendo DS. Pac-Man (who has been put under Golvis' sphere curse) must save Pac-Master's family from the evil Golvis and Ghosts, with their evil plot to turn Pac-Land into Ghost-Land. This was a bit of a mash up between Marble Madness gameplay and Super Monkey Ball. The touch screen was used to control a 3-d version of Pac-Man while he traveled around various levels.

Space World on August 24th, 2000 was the site of one of the biggest reveals of the year. Nintendo lifted the curtain on their next console and the world was introduced to the Nintendo Game Cube. A little over a year earlier Howard Lincoln, NoA's chairman, had announced Project Dolphin which would become the Gamecube, but it wasn't until this day that it was officially revealed. Rather than standard sized DVD's like the other consoles of its generation, the Gamecube used proprietary 8cm DVD's that would be the subject of debates for a number of years. It also made some innovations to controllers with the C stick and analog shoulder buttons. Probably the most famous feature of its controller was the giant green A button that had not been seen until that time. The launch for the system was also the first time that Mario was not present in the starring role of a game. It would end up not being a very big success commercially, but paved the way for the next generation for Nintendo and the advent of the Wii. The last game released for the system, officially, was Madden NFL '08.

August 24th, 2006 would be the first time that Final Fantasy III would be released in America. This would be the first time that the game was released outside the country of Japan. This version of the game was also the first of Square Enix's 3-d remakes of Final Fantasy games on DS, and would soon be followed by the ever popular Final Fantasy IV. The DS release of the game would make some changes to the game to improve playability. Things like the job system would be rebalanced, new abilities would be added and the initial job for the player would be changed from Onion Knight to Freelancer. Job specific abilities would also be added if a character had fully mastered a certain job. Final Fantasy III would also make use of Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection allowing players to send mail to characters, as well as other players. This remake would sell over 500,000 copies in Japan during its first week in stores and has sold more than 1 million copies to date.

Let's move to the year 1997, more specifically, August 25th, 1997. This was the day that third person shooters would begin to gain popularity on consoles. On this day in history GoldenEye 007 was released for the Nintendo 64. This game, based on the popular James Bond story, and developed by Rare, featured four player split-screen multiplayer and one of the most popular death match modes in a shooter to date. It was well loved by fans and has a Meta Critic score of 96%. GoldenEye 007 is on many players most wanted lists for the Virtual Console, but it has been stated many times that the possiblity of it coming to download services is small.

August 25th, 2002 saw the release of the first true Mario adventure for the Gamecube. Super Mario Sunshine was the first, and only game in the main Mario series to release for the GameCube. It has been received to very differing opinions among Nintendo fans. In the game Mario was framed for committing a crime he did not do. He is sentenced to cleaning up the entirety of Isle Delfino, home to the Piantas. The main gameplay element, which is the cause of the wide variety of opinions, revolves around Mario using a water pack to clean up the environment and help him reach areas otherwise inaccessible to him. As of June 2006 it had sold more than five and half million copies worldwide and placed 46th on Official Nintendo Magazine's Top 100 Games of All-Time.

Fast forward one year to August 25th, 2003 and the release of F-Zero GX. This was the fifth game in the popular racing franchise and the first in the series to include a "story mode" where the player assumes the role of Captain Falcon who must complete various racing missions to proceed through the story. It retained the series high speed, frantic hover racing action, but increased the overall difficulty of the series considerably. It is considered by many to be the best racing game to release on the GameCube. It featured thirty different pilots who could compete on twenty different tracks throughout the game.

Also on that day Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire were released for the Game Boy Advance. This was a pretty standard pinball game that featured two tables and four different modes of play.

Super Mario Sluggers stepped up to bat on August 25th, 2008 for Wii. This was the second baseball game in the Mario franchise and featured some Wii specific controls, such as swinging the Wii Remote to bat or pitch. In order to unlock all the characters and stadiums, Mario must complete a series of challenges against various opponents. If successful another character or stadium would unlock. There were 41 different characters from the Mushroom Kingdom that were playable. The game received very fair reviews, but none were overwhelmingly good. The lack of online play and the fact that it came out after Wii Sports and its baseball game contributed to those reviews.

Let's go back to August 27th, 2007 and the release of one of the best games so far on Wii, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. This final chapter of the Prime trilogy was released to very positive reviews and it considered by many to still have some of the best controls for a shooter on Wii. It was praised for its gorgeous visuals, solid controls and excellent storyline. It was one of the first games in the series to feature a large amount of voice work, even if Samus herself did not speak and even featured an online element. Players were able to trade tokens with each other that would enable them to unlock bonus features such as concept art and movies. This game is be re-released on a single disc with the first two games in the trilogy as Metroid Prime Trilogy on August 25th, 2009.

Developer 5th Cell was founded on August 28th, 2003 by Joseph M. Tringali, Jeremiah Slaczka and Brett Caird. The company develops games primarily for Nintendo's Wii and DS systems. They are most well known for the Drawn To Life series, as well as Lock's Quest an the upcoming game Scribblenauts. When asked what kind of games he wanted the company to be known for Jeremiah Slaczka, the company's Creative Director said, "Innovative games – we want to be known as a company that produces AAA content you can't get anywhere else from anyone else. So far, with both Drawn to Life and Lock's Quest, I think our products have lined up with that vision. We've completely switched our company's focus to original titles now. We don't do licensed games or work for hire anymore."

Star Fox Command was released for the Nintendo DS on August 28th, 2006. This game returned the series to its air combat roots after a couple of previous missteps. It was also the first game in the Star Fox series to feature online play. Up to six people could join together in local wireless play.


There you have it, another week of history is in the books. What do you think? Have you enjoyed this article? Is there anything coming up you know about that you want to see in the article. Leave me a comment and let me know.

A Positive GameStop Experience

Gamestop takes a lot of flack for being this evil corporation that everyone should hate. Sometimes that may be the case, but I find it to be rare. I don't trade a lot of games because I enjoy collecting the games I have, but I do occasionally use their service and I do have an Edge card. Their persistance paid off and one day I finally said yes, if nothing it'll get them to stop asking for a while. I know my Gamestop guys as I go in there about once a week.

Anyway, I want to relate a positive experience I had recently, because it seems there aren't enough of those to go around. Last Friday I decided to go in and get the new Madden game on the Wii. That was a mistake. I took the game home, played it for a couple of hours and realized it was missing many of the things that I would expect from a Madden game. I'm not a big fan of Madden, I'm what you would call a casual player. The last version of the game I owned was Madden '06 on the Gamecube. I have played every year, but never bought the game myself. I was intrigued by the new art style, which I do love by the way, so I decided to give it a go.

After the couple of hours of playing I decided I really didn't like it and wanted to take it back. I called Gamestop and the guy I talked to remembered selling me the game earlier. I explained that I really didn't like it, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting and I asked if I could return it for another game. He said he could do it only if it wasn't opened. I said well it was opened when I bought it so I wouldn't have had that opportunity. After a few minutes of talking he said, "I tell you what, if you bring it back in ask for me and I'll take care of you."

I ended up taking the game back and he and the other guy behind the counter were surprised at how different it was from the other versions of the game, because they hadn't really heard a lot about the Wii version. I traded it straight across for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, which is absolutely amazing and was sealed, by the way. They did say that if I opened that game and didn't like it they would only be able to take it back as used, which I completely understood because I would have opened the game myself. It was a very positive experience and I have no problems using Gamestop. The guys in my local store are always friendly and haven't been pushy, or rude or acted like they knew things they didn't really know.

I just wanted to let everyone out there know that it's not all negative news when it comes to Gamestop.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Has More Playable Characters

The Vs. series by Capcom has seen a number of different opponents over the years, including Marvel and SNK. The newest opponent to jump in the ring is Tatsunoko, a Japanese animation company founded in 1962. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars producer Ryota Niitsuma sat down with Gamespot last week during GamesCom in Cologne, German to talk about the upcoming fighter that will be released exclusively for Wii. During that discussion he confirmed that the western release of the game will feature four new fighters that have not yet been announced. Two will be from the Capcom side of the fight and two will be from the Tatsunoko side.

The game was designed using a new engine that would better take advantage of the Wii's capabilities. Also announced was that the online match making has been improved over the Japanese version of the game to allow better placement of matches based on skill. European and American players will also be able to play against opponents from all over the world.

"We wanted to do something really wacky," he said in our interview, "and fill in the space for a Wii button masher."

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom has not had an official release date for North America or Europe, but that announcement is expected some time before the fourth quarter of this year.

Source: Gamespot

Water Warfare Review (WiiWare)

Most first person shooters are geared toward an older audience that has no problem seeing limbs blown off and blood all over the environment. Hudson is trying to increase the size of the shooter audience by creating an FPS geared toward children. Water Warfare is a typical first person perspective game where instead of lead flying all over the place, players engage in a giant water gun fight.

Water gun fights are not an experience many, if any, have had on a console. It was thought that the FPS genre was only for the older players. Water Warfare opens up by allowing you to create your on screen representation rather than having a stock character typical to the genre. You have about nine different options for faces, hair, and clothing to choose from giving you a large variety of options to use in creating your virtual hero. The single player campaign is broken up into about 40 missions spread over 8 maps, most of them taking just a few minutes to complete and all based around a single objective. You are tasked with eliminating a pre-determined number of combatants during a set amount of time or defending an objective, such as a playground slide, from oncoming “invaders”. The eight maps are map up of small and large versions of the four locales in the game. You will be fighting on a beach, the playground, a city plaza and a small mountain arena.

The controls in water warfare are very responsive. Aiming is done with the Wii Remote’s pointer, fire your water guns with the B button and you can jump with the A button. The object is to soak your opponents before they soak you. Each player has a T-shirt that represents their health. If the shirt fills with water you are knocked out of the fight and must respawn. If you run out of water you can refill your gun at water fountains or in the ocean. You must be careful though because you can take damage by standing in water. There are no melee combats but there are a number of objects around the environment that can be used to help you in your quest to dominate the water soaked battlefields. Raincoats allow you take water damage for a short period of time. Towels reduce the amount of water you’ve been hit with allowing you to get back into the fight again. You also have things like water bombs that act much like you would expect a grenade to work in a traditional FPS. There is also the ability to dual wield water pistols to increase your rate of fire. All together there are about 6 different weapons that you can wield from a standard water pistol or water machine gun to a water shotgun or bazooka that fires blasts of water at your opponents. For players who don’t like the Wii Remote and Nunchuk you can hook up a Classic Controller and use the dual analog stick control method typical of other console shooters. You can also use the Wii Zapper if you find that controller to your liking.

Also included are a number of multi-player modes. Split Screen multi player is supported as well as online matches for up to eight players, though only one player is allowed per console in online matches. You connect through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and a clock counts down while opponents are located. You can battle in the standard death match and capture the flag modes and well as team death match and capture the flag. The online experience does not lag and the match making is usually very quick to find opponents. You can, as you would expect log on and play against friends using Nintendo’s Friend Code System. If you’re having trouble finding people to play with or you just want to practice before heading out into the real world all the online maps are available to play with bots so you can hone your skills.

Visually the game lacks behind experiences typical of today’s standard. The game appears similar to a later version of a Nintendo 64 game or a very early game cube game. There are not a lot of textures and the characters, while there are a lot of variants have the slightly blockly look you expect of games made in generations past. This does not detract too much from the overall experience as there are a lot of details in the environments and you can interact with many of the objects such as rocking horses on the playground map.

This game is a solid experience, especially for younger players who can’t play the more gorey, blood fests found today. There is no violence to be seen unless you consider sniping children with water guns to be violent. It has the same laughable, fun experience you would expect if you were actually on a playground shooting your friends with water guns. If you’re looking for a light hearted experience or you really like water guns you should check out Water Warfare.

Final Score: 3/5

Nintendo Download: Week of August 24th

It’s a bit of a lighter this week for Nintendo’s download services. We get one game this week on each service, but they’re all worth a look. We’ve got Jedi, drillers and bubbles; three things that everyone should enjoy.

The Virtual Console brings us the sequel to Super Star Wars with Super Empire Strikes Back. This is a result of the partnership between Nintendo and Lucas Arts to bring Star Wars content to Wii. You'll be able to relive the adventures of Luke Skywalker and company in this digital version of the Star Wars world.

WiiWare has an arcade classic in Mr. Driller W. You'll be trying to dig your way down as far as you can while avoiding falling blocks, rocks and air loss. How far down can you go?

DSiWare has another version of the WiiWare launch title Pop by developer Nnooo. Pop virtual bubbles, chain combos and use nuclear blasts to score as high as you can. There have been new modes added to the game since its release on WiiWare and the game was already a quality title there.

Virtual Console

Super Empire Strikes Back
Original platform: Super NES™
Publisher: LucasArts
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Fantasy Violence
Price: 800 Wii Points
Description: Pursued across the galaxy, Rebel forces now marshal new strength on the remote ice world of Hoth. Though tracked by probe droids, attacked by ice monsters and confronted by an army of gigantic Imperial Walkers, you must not give in. You are the Alliance’s only hope. Learn the ways of the Force, then test your skills in this fast-paced, action-packed sequel to the hit game Super Star Wars.

WiiWare

Mr. DRILLER® W
Publisher: NBGI
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Comic Mischief
Price: 800 Wii Points™
Description: Mr. Driller W is the newly updated version of the exciting game that challenges players with level upon level of frantic underground drilling action. Experience more than 20 varied stages and missions. Drill through a seemingly endless onslaught of colored blocks while avoiding falling obstacles and strategically managing your air supply. Multiple degrees of difficulty now challenge everyone from novices to hardcore Mr. Driller veterans. A tutorial will even help first-time players learn the rules quickly and easily. Vibrant graphics, engaging game play and loads of characters make this a modern twist on a gaming masterpiece.

Nintendo DSiWare

Pop+ Solo
Publisher: Nnooo
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Price: 500 Nintendo DSi Points™
Description: Pop bubbles, build chains and try to keep the timer alive in this awesome puzzle/shooter. Pop your way through 16 waves of bubbles in Adventure, Normal or Advanced modes. Race against the clock in a one-, two- or five-minute run. Try the new Bonus Round mode, where each bonus round can be played in three, five or 10 rounds of increasing difficulty. Or just chill out in the relaxing Chill mode with no score or time pressures to worry about. Pop+ Solo comes to the Nintendo DSi™ system with eight modes and five bonus rounds, plus plenty of new badges to collect. Adventure mode introduces some new elements to the game with mines, golden fish, jets of water and four boss battles. The new Challenge mode lets you create and customize your own challenges to play again and again.

I think Mr. Driller W will be my first download of the week. My daughter got hooked on Mr. Driller after a visit to her uncle's house a few weeks ago when she played the XBLA version of the game. It's a pretty fun little puzzle game. Star Wars is huge as well in our house and I've never played the originals so I'll definitely have to check it out on VC. I don't own a DSi, but I can tell you that the WiiWare version of Pop was a lot of fun and new modes should make the gameplay even more interesting. All in all, it's a pretty good week on Nintendo's downloadable front.

Touching Tribute to Fallen Soldier

There are fewer men that I respect more than soldiers. They do a job I couldn't possibly do and they deserve all the respect in the world. This is a touching tribute by a fallen soldier's father. Private Richard Hunt, a member of the British military was killed in action in Afghanistan last week. The funeral happened on the soldier's 22nd birthday and a number of people came to remember him. During the funeral, his father left a copy of Call of Duty: World at War on his grave with a note. You can't read it in the picture, but the note reads, "Happy Birthday 'Hunty'. Play you again one day."

It is both a bit of irony and an extremely touching tribute to one of the world's heroes who died during his own "call of duty". Make sure you tell all the soldiers in your life "Thank You" for their service and their sacrifice.

Source: GoNintendo, Kotaku, Game Politics

Guitar Hero 5 DLC Not Compatible With World Tour

If you're hoping that any DLC coming out after Guitar Hero 5 is released will work with Guitar Hero World Tour, we have bad news for you. Activision has confirmed that will not be the case.

"Guitar Hero 5 downlodable content will be compatible with future Guitar Hero and Band Hero games," a rep told us, "however the advancements and innovations made to the franchise do not allow for downloadable content to be backwards compatible with Guitar Hero World Tour."

While that's sad for people who won't be upgrading to the newer game we do know that many the songs from the disc and DLC for World Tour will be compatible with Guitar Hero 5. That means with a small fee and the new game most of your current library will work in the future, you'll just have to buy the new game when it's released.

Guitar Hero 5 has tons of new features and some interoperatbility with the DS. It's shaping up to be a very good game. Guitar Hero 5 will be released on September 1st.