ShareThis
 |
| [display_podcast] |
Summary
Noah and Evan introduce Nintendo Heartcast’s objectives, and then discuss Super Mario 3D Land impressions, GameCube 10th Anniversary memories and a turnaround in Nintendo fortunes.
You can send in feedback to showmail at nintendojo dot com, facebook.com/nintendojo or twitter.com/nintendojo! You can also leave a comment below!
Recording Date
November 28, 2011
Hosts
Noah and Evan
Contents
00:00:00 Introduction and Goals
00:05:46 Growing Up Nintendo: Beginnings
00:12:52 Player Input: Why Buy 3DS and Super Mario 3D Land Impressions
00:39:34 Reminiscing GameCube’s 10th Anniversary
01:03:31 Nintendo News: Game & Hardware Sales
01:12:32 Response Requested
01:14:37 Conclusion
01:15:56 Credits
01:17:50 Total Length
Links
Well there’s a pleasant surprise! Thanks Noah & Evan. :)
Thanks for listening! We would love to hear any feedback you may have about the show. We want to continue improving so Nintendo Heartcast can become the best Nintendo podcast out there.
Finally got around to listening! I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to seeing how the show evolves over the next little while.
I was glad to hear you loved 3D Land as much as you did, Evan; it’s a great little game. It may not be the lengthiest Mario title, but almost every level is packed with loads of gaming goodness. And this is especially true in the Special Worlds! Like Noah, there were quite a few people who were a little bit down on the game after checking out the early demo, but I’ve been observing the Twitterverse since the game’s release, and it’s been amazing to me just how many of these people have completely changed their tune. It really seems to grow on you as you play through.
—
I also managed to come up with a couple segment ideas that I hope might prove interesting. As was mentioned on DSG, there are some excellent features and editorials on the site, which a lot of people might be missing out on. Why don’t you take any one article of particular interest each week and have a quick discussion about it on the podcast? It might spark some interesting conversation and also give a little bit of extra exposure to the site.
And secondly, I thought it might be a neat idea to do something like a “nostalgia” segment, wherein you chat briefly about your experiences/memories playing (or not playing) a specific game on a Nintendo platform. It can be any game on a console from the NES to the GameCube, or a handheld from the Game Boy to the Game Boy Advance. Also, just to make things a bit more interesting, let’s say that from week-to-week you cycle through the release years of the games to wax nostalgic about. Let’s say, begin in 1985 and continue up until 2005 or 2006, then return to 1985, and so forth.
Just throwing some ideas out there! Keep up the great work!
Make Your Time
I don’t have much time to game anymore, but that’s one of the reasons why Super Mario 3D Land is such a great game for me. It only takes a few minutes to play through a level. I play a little bit here and there without worrying about having to stop or cut the game off in the middle of a level. I just beat the first Bowser stage, but I have all the stars so far. I am able to take my time and replay levels if I missed anything. Having these quick goals such as beating a level, getting the stars, or getting the golden flag allows me to have a fulfilling gameplay experience in every short session of time that I play. It’s more difficult to make time for Zelda, I’ve only just freed my Loftwing.
Seriously, Why Didn’t the GCN Get 3rd Party Support
I love the theme of the Heartcast. One thing that has been bothering me for a long time is trying to figure out why exactly the Gamecube did so poorly from a third party perspective. The GCN had a broadband adapter, why give the PS2 version online capability and not The GCN version? It’s not like the Playstation Network had an account system like XboX Live did. I don’t see any difference between Sony’s networking structure and Nintendo’s for these systems. During the Gamecube segment of the Live NWR Telethon, is was mentioned that the third party developers didn’t port the the GCN because the controller didn’t have enough buttons, but that seems like quite a lame excuse to me considering how great the Gamecube’s controller is. I really doubt that the lack of two extra shoulder buttons can really make the difference between wheather or not a game gets ported over. The following are my thoughts about this, perhaps you can shed some light on this topic. Thank you.
3rd Party Developers
The most significant thing that separates the NES, SNES, GameBoys, and DS’s from the N64, the GCN, and the Wii is 3rd Party Developer Support. Whoever has the best 3rd party support ends up being the winner of the Console Wars. Nintendo first lost 3rd party support for the N64 by using cartridges instead of CD’s. This caused developers like Square to drop their support for Nintendo. This makes sense, and we all understand how that occurred. The N64 was more powerful than the PS1, but it was the 3rd party support that made the difference instead of the technical power of the systems.
I don’t understand why Nintendo did not have the 3rd party support from developers that it needed to succeed against the PS2 and the Xbox. The GCN was more powerful than the PS2, and it nearly as powerful as the Xbox. It used discs instead of cartridges, and Nintendo made an effort to ensure that the hardware would be easy to develop for. Actually, the PS2 was difficult to develop for. On the other hand, the Xbox was also easy to develop for because it was similar to a PC. So tell me, how did the difficult to develop for PS2 gain more 3rd party support than the easier to develop for and more powerful GCN and Xbox consoles? It seems as though there should have been many multi-console ports across all three platforms from 3rd party developers. If this had been the case, then the main difference between the consoles would have been their 1st and 2nd party offerings. This kind of situation would surely have made Nintendo’s console the most appealing. Why didn’t this happen? Without being able to use limited power, different controls, or casual userbase as an excuse like what 3rd parties say about why their games can’t sell on the Wii, what was there to stop 3rd party titles from being made for and selling well on the GCN? I don’t think that Nintendo can go back to making a mainstream console until the cause of the GCN coming in 3rd place in a three way battle can be found out and corrected. Otherwise, I see no reason why that same situation would not repeat itself. It seems as though gamers are asking Nintendo to put itself back into that losing position, yet they’re expecting a different result. That’s crazy. I don’t see any difference between Nintendo’s new console having similar features as its competitors and the CGN’s situation. If the 3rd parties didn’t develop for the GCN, why would they develop for Nintendo’s new console, especially if they didn’t develop for the Wii.
Nintendo has been in the situation where their system, the Gamecube, was very comparable to its competitors. However, Nintendo’s system did not gain comparable 3rd party support. There were still many multi-platform games that came out for the PS2 and Xbox but not for the GCN. Why wouldn’t this happen again if Nintendo’s next console is very comparable to its competitors? What does Nintendo really need to do to win over the 3rd party support that it needs in order to get core franchise multi-console games to come to its system?
No negativity? Is this podcast a plot to get rid of James? J/K
I loved the GCN retrospective. Gotta disagree a lot though. Cube is my second favorite Nintendo system. Strange right? But I loved that controller. And games like Super Smash Bros & Phantasy Star online I played more of than any other games in my life. Beside maybe the original Halo. I loved the 3rd party stuff. Despite the lack the exclusives the few they got were amazing. Stuff like Tales of Symphonia, Ikaruga, Soul Caliber 2 with Link, Baten Kaitos, Lost Kingdoms, Eternal Darkness. It was dark times so it was hard to be a Nintendo fanboy. I had all 3 but cube was first in my eyes. I remember getting it on Xmas in 2001. I got Pikmin, my little bro got Smash Bros & my littlest bro got Luigi’s Mansion. Such a great start! I dunno something about being the righteous underdog was enjoyable as much as it was frustrating. Also purple forever. Though I wish we got spice orange!
Like the new show. Hope since its bi-weekly the episodes are long. Also love the music!!!!
Side note. Post Xmas. Nintendojo MK7 game night? It would be great community building? Maybe even a night during each week for site fans to get together and play online? Let me know your thoughts?
Love the show! I wish that GCN was respected more though. I didn’t have one myself but I always remembered playing the awesome games it had at my friend’s house.
Glad to hear the podcast love continue.
I missed the GCN generation completely, only catching up after buying a Wii. There are still many great GameCube titles in my backlog that I look forward to playing.
:)