Input from July’s Nintendo Power

The following information is from Nintendo Power’s July Issue which includes a 17-Page BLOWOUT on Wii!

UPDATE 1:The 17-Page Blowout on Wii information starts off with screenshots and little previews of numerous games. Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Project H.A.M.M.E.R, Smash Bros, Warioware: Smooth Moves, Excite Truck, Zelda: TP, Disaster: Day of Crisis and has small info on WiiConnect24 which mentioned load times and daily updates etc.

UPDATE 2: First feature is on Red Steel. Production of the game started in June 2005. The team was a combination of developers (total of 85) from all over Ubisoft who worked on games such as Ghost Recon: AW to Prince of Persia: ST. Nintnedo Power says you’ll need to “unlearn� what you have learned on playing FPS’s in the past with Dual-Analog and PC control. Art Director of Red Steel says “With (console) FPS games, it’s very difficult to move, to shoot, to play in vertical environments. With this controller, we made it so anyone can move or shoot very easily.� Most exciting part of gameplay (although it has Uzi, gun and shotgun weapons) is the sword battles. The team at Ubisoft is still working on fine-tuning controls. A very interesting concept is in the game when you use the katana you gain what is called “Bushido points� which is kinda like the experience system in an RPG. You can trade points for new skills, new combos for attacks such as walking into a room with five badguys and “stealthily� killing all five with your sword. Game takes place 30% in Los Angeles and the remaining in Japan. Team studied Japanese culture and many exploring can be done in Japan, you can visit a modern day Japanese bar, an ancient Japanese temple or the streets of Tokyo.

UPDATE 3: Nintendo Power Interview with Red Steel producer Marie-Sol Beaudry and creative director Nicolas Eypert. They both speak about how the controller will feel natural as you play the game and alot of focus went into sword fighting. They started the game from scratch instaed of being influenced by games like Blade of Honor. Red Steel teams goal is to make Red Steel to set the standard for future FPS games on the Wii. They also confirm it is a launch title. Best of all they plan this game to become a franchise.

UPDATE 4: Next feature is on Rayman Ravid Rabbids. Creator Michel Ancel explains “We have devised many innovative ways for Rayman to use (the controller’s) functions within the gameplay experience. You’ll be able to do a sort of acrobatic ’sky diving’ as well as throwing actions and a bit of kung fu, to name but a few (examples).� Nintendo Power says that Rayman can ride sharks, rhinos, giant tarantulas and more to destroy the demon bunnies.

UPDATE 5: Feature on Madden NFL 07. Producer of the game says “We want to bring more of the game of football into Madden, and the Wii controller is the key for us doing that.� To do a pass you flicker down, a hike you flicker up, stiff arm move side to side to juke shake nunchuku side to side a punt in a downwards to upwards motion.

UPDATE 6: Very small feature on Medal of Honor: Airborne. There is one small screenshot but it looks really good and the game may have some great lighting. The game is slated for a Fall 2006 release. The game is about members of the 82nd and 101st Airborn divisions in Operation Husky in Sicily, Italy.

UPDATE 7: Next feature is about Tony Hawk: Downhill Jam. Producer of the game says “We explored a bunch of concepts, but this one-a racing game-made the most sense. It just fit. The core controls and gameplay mechancis are still there. What we’re doing is funneling them into a different type of game; taking it from a trick-based game to more of a racing-based game with tricks.� More talk about the game from the team etc. Tilting is done as part of motion. Do some tricks in the game and you get to do a power boost (called Zone Bone) by shaking the remote and you can knock other players. Developers first started on a Gamecube controller and then moved to the Wii-mote. To make it more realistic developers attached the Wii-mote to an actual skateboard. They are still deciding if they want an accessory (skateboard?) attachment for the game. Game has eight real world locations and offers 96 events. Players will fly through a new set of textures every fifteen to twenty seconds. Instead of copying and pasting them they hired 10 additional artists to create the new sections. Interview with Tony Hawk. Talks about how he inputs as much he can for the game so they gamers can feel it to be more legitamate and fun for skaters to play.

UPDATE 8: Next Feature is Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. To jump you flicker the controller. Producer of the series says “The reason (the controller) fits so well is because SMB originally had the style of tilting the game world as its control scheme. By tilting the controller itself, I think that users will feel the operation even more naturally this time. I think the game and Wii have been matched up very-nicely. The controller has changed, but the feeling of difficulty of the gameplay itself is still retained. This goes for the main game, but regarding the party games, we wanted users to widely experience Wii’s unique controller operations, and so we did not make the party games too difficult.�

UPDATE 9: Nintendo Power interviews Tomb Raider creator Toby Gard. When asked about Wii he replied “To be honest with you, I don’t know an awful lot about (Wii). I haven’t got any of the inside scoops yet. (Laughs) It would certainly be interesting to see what we could do with the mostion sensor on the controller. And I think that always the strength with Nintendo is their interface, how they always innovate on the interface with the game. But of course, it’s something I’m interested in investigating. I’m a huge fan of Nintendo. It’s always been sort of a dream of mine to work with Nintendo.�

UPDATE 10: “Reggie to Rumble� exclusive Nintendo Power interview. It’s three pages long. Speaks about Nintendo being an “And� company and his challenges before E3. Says he looks at Gamecube as a “business case study� and can look at it dispassionately and without alot of ownership. He says the two key weaknesses of the Gamecube were that first the launch lineup was not diverse and strong enough from first-party/third-party perspective. Secondly after the launch window there was too much of a long gap of getting the next round of great titles out. He says that he looks at it as “How can we do Wii differently?� He says that Nintendo is confident that the entire first year of Wii’s launch will be strong. Reggie mentions that new franchises will be on its way and it is Nintendo’s focus, already Disaster: Day of Crisis is one of them but at the same time making the best out of the current franchises. Says that for the mature and core group they are creating new properties for that market but as for mature games they aren’t focused on “pushing the envolope� as other developers do. Nintendo Power asked a good question about if Nintendo is a generation behind (such as cartridges on N64, lack of online play on Gamecube) and Reggie says he doesn’t believe so. He says regarding HD there are issues and its too early for the Wii to adapt it and that they attempt to show that they are correct regarding HD. Reggie says that he is hopeful that third-party franchises that currently exists find its way on the Wii. Reggie CONFIRMS that Wavebird is compatible with Wii as many feared it wouldn’t. Reggie states that “we see the online capability of Wii as a huge, huge asset to our launch. And we will leverage that to the hilt.� Nintendo Power asks a good question regarding lack of hard drive and MMORPG’s, Reggie states “We’ve communicated that a wide range of storage media can be used with Wii. We’ve announced that SD cards are compatible, we’ve talked about ethernet connections. So our plans for Wii really can scale to include all types of gameplay, and that’s our focus.� Another good question NP asks if he will see downloadable demos, trailers etc. Reggie replies “We plan to create an online environment that is dedicated to game content. This may include ability to own content as well as the opportunity to ahve it for only short periods of time. All of that is part of our strategy.� Reggie says that for Virtual Console third-party content is included as part of the strategy.

UPDATE 11: Nintendo Power was asked about NiGHTS and they had the following to say: “Actually, if there’s any existing franchise that seems tailer-made for Wii, it’s NiGHTS. Rumors from Japan suggest that such a game is in development, but Sega of America denies its existence. We’ll keep buggin’ em.�

UPDATE 12: Nintendo Power says nearly every major developer has at least one game in development for Wii’s launch window. Also a section on a few fan reactions to Wii name.

UPDATE 13: August 2006 Nintendo Power issue will have a look at “Wii at E3″ and finally some breaking details on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

There you have it that is as much information available to you from the Nintendo Power July Issue. If you want to check out the magazine yourself you can wait till it reaches newstands or subscribe to Nintendo Power so you can get your hands on the issue fast.

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