Nightly News Roundup: 07.02.2012

WayForward, Smash Bros. on Wii U and Sony in tonight’s news.

By Andy Hoover. Posted 07/02/2012 16:45 7 Comments     ShareThis

WayForward Readying Mighty Switch Force for Wii U

Hot off the heels of our interview with eShop-loving developers WayForward, scans from the latest issue of Nintendo Power have revealed that their Mighty Switch Force title is getting an HD remake for Wii U. The article says that the game will feature all the content currently released for the 3DS version; however, there might be something new thrown in as well, though WayForward can’t confirm anything at this point.

Mighty Switch Force HD will take advantage of Wii U’s features in several ways. First of all, all the sprites are being redone for the HD visual, and the GamePad’s screen will emulate the 3DS’ second screen, though the whole experience can be played on it as well. WayForward is hoping to have the game ready for Wii U’s launch, the release date of which is still unannounced.

Source: GoNintendo, Nintendo Power


Sakurai Discusses Next Smash Bros.

Nintendo’s Smash Bros. series has been a slow moving franchise, releasing one game per generation but rewarding patient fans with massive increases in content and gameplay. From one entry to the next, Nintendo has added more and more characters, stages, modes, items, and just about everything else imaginable. As successful as this formula has been, longtime series mastermind, Masahiro Sakurai, doesn’t necessarily think the series can maintain its momentum without something changing.

Sakurai detailed his thoughts in the latest issue of Nintendo Power, saying:

It isn’t a matter of ‘if the next game has 50 characters, that’ll be enough.’ There is a certain charm to games that have huge casts of playable characters, but they tend to have issues with game balance and it becomes very difficult to fine-tune each character and have them all feel distinctive…. In terms of quantity, we’ve probably already reached the limit of what’s feasible. I think a change of direction may be what’s needed.

What this new direction will be remains a mystery, so we will just have to wait and see how Sakurai and Namco Bandai plan on changing things up.

Source: Nintendo Everything, Nintendo Power


Sony Finalizing Gaikai Takeover

Leading up to E3, many rumors were making their way around the gaming world about Sony announcing a big investment in cloud based video game streaming, possibly by acquiring Gaikai, who is already one of the larger players in that market. It turns out these rumors were completely accurate.

Sony has announced that it will soon be the proud owners of Gaikai, for a mere $380 million.

“Sony Computer Entertainment will deliver a world-class cloud-streaming service that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices,” said Andrew House, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment.

On the surface, this announcement appears to just be Sony jumping into a growing market, but this could ultimately be much more significant. Many within the industry foresee cloud based streaming ultimately expanding into the console market, and maybe even one day completely supplanting it. Considering the growing prominence of digital distribution, the increasing cost of hardware and software development, as well as the expanding availability of high speed internet connections, these theories definitely have merit. By acquiring a business already well versed in these technologies, Sony could very well be taking the first steps down this road and giving itself a distinct advantage.

Source: GameSpot


That’s all the news for today, what are your thoughts? Will you be picking up Mighty Switch Force on Wii U? Think that Smash Bros. on Wii U is going to be the high point of the franchise? Let us know in the comments’ section!

7 Responses to “Nightly News Roundup: 07.02.2012”

  • 0 points
    says...

    The original Super Smash Bros. is by far the most superior in that it marries an very innovative/exciting game-play mechanic with essentially the Street Fighter II character builds. Brilliance. The matches enjoyed with the original Super Smash Bros. far surpasses any of the sequels offered since, although Brawl was amazingly more fun (and well implemented/thought out) than Melee ever was. However, I digress, that is not the point I will be trying to make here.

    Ever since Melee (and although it existed in the original – although not to the point of altering enjoyment as it did in Melee) – the “meta-game” has been game-destroying much more than game-improving. Are you telling me that the team behind Brawl could square Ganondorf off against Meta-knight and have those two come out 50/50 most of the time? Give me a break. What’s the point of making a game with forty characters, when twenty-eight of them end up having either their abilities truncated to the point of annoyance or suffer damage nerfs to the extent that against certain characters – good luck just isn’t enough.

    I’m really impressed with the character builds they’ve come up with in the past two Smash games – don’t get me wrong. The characters are all tremendously fun to play. However, what’s the point when playing as your favourite character invites you to nothing more than an obscene pants-kicking? Sure, it’s fun playing as your guy, but it doesn’t feel like you’re giving your opponent much reason to play the game when 5-2 scores are in abundance on their side, which after a while just makes them ask, “Hey, why don’t you try out a couple of the better characters?” Because, the reason I play Smash Bros. is to occupy and visit some of my favourite gaming worlds with some of my favourite gaming characters – not merely to win. Yet, simultaneously, it isn’t much fun when all you do is lose – I mean – really – this is still a game after all.

    Why the marriage between Namco and the Smash Bros. team is so interesting is that Namco has faced the same power-balance issues in their classic fighting series Soul Calibur, most definitely ever since the second one on GameCube, but most likely since the very first Soul Edge. While Soul Calibur IV remains perhaps one of the finest fighters -ever- created, one of the most fun games within the game, was the character creation. And while crafting look-alike Naruto and One Piece characters was always tremendous fun, their stats would be based upon everything from the equipment they wore to the weapon they wielded. Have a shirtless ninja – sorry – he’s going to have low defence. Have a gigantic axe-wielding pirate – sorry – his damage is going to be insane. Again, playing the characters and enjoying the game for that and that alone was tremendous fun – but likewise with Smash Bros. – when the matches themselves become too obviously one-sided, when twelve block-reflects and nine combos fail to garner the same damage as three single direct hits, you have to likewise wonder just how thoroughly tested the experience was before it was released.

    This being said of course with the understanding that if they did something as simple as balance some numbers, or even better yet, allow the player to allot the damage counts for the characters in general, it would have made the experience much more even, with certain builds having certain numerical advantages to balance the stylistic disadvantages they might be cobbled with.

    While Soul Calibur V did a tremendous job in cleaning this aspect of character creation up, it never-the-less both simplified the game-play, and allowed certain character builds to be far superior to others. This creates an automatic meta-game, that much like Smash Bros., often makes just having a fair match between two like-wise talents a near impossible event to set-up.

    This all having been said, it’s for the very reason that -both- of these teams (and their respective franchises) have shared this same game-play dilemma, that it gives me great hope that they can achieve a scenario/game-play dynamic that eradicates the “meta-game” entirely. It sounds like both teams have admitted that they are tired of the same old same old, most recently with the Smash Bros. comments, and before I’ve read comments from Namco’s Soul Calibur team that they really intended the fourth one to be the final in the series. It sounds like both of these power-houses are willing and wanting to try something new, if not for the fact that this change should have really happened more than a generation ago, then for the fact that they might really just be getting bored at making the same game over and over and over again.

    Time will tell, but oddly enough, the announcement that Smash and Soul are essentially teaming up to create something new has garnered real, actual (re: consumer willingness) support, whereas an announcement of yet another Smash or Soul game along the same lines as the old would have translated to game-buying apathy (re: loss of a sale).

  • 0 points
    says...

    Greetings Adam,

    Thank you most kindly for the offer. I must be honest, the idea of contributing to such an authentic fan collective on one of my favourite past-times is indeed exhilarating for the imagination. The ideas I have and the topics I could cover would indeed add further depth to an already established entourage of Nintendo enthusiasts.

    Nintendojo appeals because of the fact that, with Nintendo, almost the only true way to cover it is to essentially already love it. While Microsoft and Sony are corporations that have expanded into the video-gaming realm, and have afforded great opportunities to great companies to get their art seen and for new gamers to join the hobby, Nintendo really remains at the end of the day the -only- game-making company. Rather than the board of executives sitting atop some ivory throne in their diamond tower, they give the impression with their authentic works that they are the hobbyists and tinkerers huddled over in the back of their garage, working on what they love because they love it, not because the project is due tomorrow. This can be seen throughout their history, from the delays on games till they’re just right to the introduction of completely new gaming mechanisms when the rest of the industry was more than happy to stick with the tried and true.

    Nintendojo understands this – and is really the only site I have ever seen that wears their love for the product right on their sleeve, while simultaneously keeping a journalism (re: non-biased) credibility that allows for genuine reporting. When reviewing a Nintendo game, Nintendojo doesn’t review it based on what a “video game” should have, but rather, on the feelings that should be present based on experiences past and treasured with both the franchise and the company. When it comes to Nintendo, any other kind of out-look or approach would be the equivalent of apple-journalists covering the great orange election. And while out-side industry commentary, reviews, and opinions are always welcome and consumed, it feels like with Nintendojo you’re sitting besides a friend who grew up with Nintendo, who just -gets it-.

    This, coupled with the refreshing (to put it as an understatement) approach of releasing content based on themes concurrent to trends, hobbies, styles-of-play, or real world events, allows each week to feel like something new and different. This theme-based weekly content schedule saw it’s absolute hay-day epoch with the 100th week episode you guys did, going through all the past Nintendo generations, and really giving a heads-up to those who weren’t there (as well as a beautiful reminder to those that were) of what makes Nintendo so special. It’s history, it’s emotional involvement, it’s classic franchises, everything Nintendo was summed up beautifully with that issue, and would be the piece I would point anyone too if they were interested in finding out more about the site, or a site in general who both gets and celebrates Nintendo the way it so deserves.

    Needless to say, being a part of this collective would undoubtedly touch a very Nintendo-esque string in my heart. Having my bachelor’s in broadcast journalism would no doubt be of help in the application process, but there may be one thorn that could ultimately dismantle my hopes of ever becoming a Nintendojo-ite. And that would be . . .

    I was already a Nintendojo staffer in the past!

    Oh! Snaps! Bet you didn’t see that one coming – did you! Whew! Wow-eee! Talk about one coming right out of right field and belting you in the baby-maker! Needless to say, these smokes, yes, they are of the Holy!!! varie-tee.

    Believe it or not, I was a Nintendojo staff-member almost . . . oh man, has it almost been a decade? Perhaps even more? I was around with Eric Mattei, Noah Ward, and Aaron . . . I’m sure he had a last name. I’ll remember it later for sure. But yeah, way back when, I was writing for this site, contributing reviews, plenty of editorials, and perhaps my most famous work (re: 10 – 20 thousand views per) Smashdojo!

    Ahahahahahaha! Bet you boys and girls didn’t see that one coming! Man, looking back on it now, it was tremendous times. So. Much. Fun. And Noah did a really solid job at editing my Smash’s – it was a challenge no doubt, for both of us no doubt, me at that age, to write so prolifically week after week (and Noah, like-wise, to have to manage and look after all that content – not to mention so much else), and perhaps the consequences of that became apparent after the first seven or eight episodes, but never-the-less, it’s an experience in my life I will never forget. I knew we all had good times, but sadly, sometimes those times, they do come to an end.

    As it turns out, I performed a rather (what I realized in a not-too-long-coming hind-sight) tactless move. There was another gaming site trying to make its bones at the time, and I took on the job of content manager. In that, I over-looked all of the content that was produced for the site, edited it, placed it, tried to find it a voice, and created content never-the-less all on my own-some. It was a huge challenge, and not one that I really regret trying to take on, but the project, to say that it crashed and burned, is really to say nothing of the orphanage that was taken out with it. Imagine a Mexican stand-off where the lone survivor steps on a landmine while walking to the car. Back in the day, another site writing more reviews may have been seen as something that would compliment a growing need/desire within the web-news consuming public, but having lacked staff (or people who could spell, amongst those who were there), direction (we really thought people would perform a bear grip on their panties collection when finding out we don’t have a few solid in-depth reviews, instead of dozens useless micro-reviews), design (of which we re-designed a couple dozen times), and purpose (yet another review site, really?), we never the less gave it a lot more effort and time than most ordinarily sane people would have. It was a learning experience, to say the least, not only in being able to distinguish good ideas from poor ones, the necessity of planning and resources, and how quintessential a good plan going forward really is, but also how unless you can walk on air, burning bridges is never really a smart call. It seems whatever good will and good times I had built up at the Dojo had been spent, if not tossed out-right away, and my energy for such projects was not in the same abundance as just a year or so prior.

    Then came, from what I remember, a bit of a slump period for the Dojo as well. Trusted and true writers of Dojo past began to shuffle on in their real existences, the ideas for direction that the site had seemed to be stuck between the old that everyone knew far too well, and the new which was not yet tested, and often would not prove to be true. Even too, if I remember correctly, a time where and when the site nearly had a tombstone covering its vast history, then-shaky present, and unknown future. For, even not being of the main site any longer, I still had interest in the direction it would take and the content it would produce. My identity on the Internet, if such a thing can exist, was built greatly at the Dojo, or rather, the Dojo forum-boards. It was essentially there that I cut my teeth in writing, and by writing little fictional stories regarding all the characters and people that populated the board and site. It was from that that I was offered the position to write the Smashdojo column – and really, looking at it now, it all fit together so perfectly back then.

    The site, as can be evidence now, made a come-back, adapted to new media, and garnered a direction that let the creative stand on equal footing with the news and reviews. Coming around, at least a couple times a week, always lands me an article or two that is most interesting and puts a smile on the face if not for its cleverness, than for the tongue-in-cheek it encourages. And while it is a shame that no-one has posted on the forums in over a year (really – it’s because it’s so hard with the current “Interact” menu to get all the way over to the “Forums” button – with not only being hidden, but being cursor-wise hard to reach), it is nice that comments and what-not are encouraged after the articles on the site itself.

    And really, with my history here being what it is, and knowing full well that the idea is for everyone to be able to enjoy the site with those they share it with, I could fully understand why it would not be in many people’s interest to take me on. That being said, as I’ve already mentioned, the content here is rich and exciting, and being able to even contribute a few comments at the end of articles brings pleasure enough. I really don’t mind being a ghost in the back, but that being said, do ghosts not have hearts? Do ghosts not look at pie, curl their little apron visages up to the sky, and wail, “Why not ghost-pie?” I dunno.

    I’m not a ghost.

    But I do like pie.

    If yourself and all fellow Dojo-ites wouldn’t mind myself coming back, to contribute in manners which are actually contributory and meaningful to the projects you have going on, I would be more than happy to give any and all that I could to make this site shine as bright as it does. I always have ideas for articles, in-depth looks, and like-wise minded content, and would never shy away from participating in group activities where an extra voice or different opinion could be needed (so long as I have some understanding of the title/subject at hand – I do not know, and have not played everything – as I am sure you can fathom).

    Sorry for the extreme nature of length this reply has taken on, but I felt it would be best to make it clear who I actually was, and to discover if my application would be welcome at all (and considering who I am, I can fully appreciate why it wouldn’t be). Thanks for reading, I look forward to your response, and regardless what you choose, you can look forward to my comments on your articles and content in the future.

    • 697 points
      Adam Sorice says...

      That was a lot of information to take in right after breakfast but thank you for the full disclosure, it is appreciated. I’ll discuss the matters with my fellow editors and get back to you via the email listed on your Nintendojo account if that’s alright? :)

  • 0 points
    says...

    Thank you kindly again Adam.

    To be quite honest – I created an entirely different E-mail account just to make this site-handle. When I signed up for the forums using my actual E-mail address ( caseyreece@hotmail.com ) I never got a response, and figured it was because somebody actually remembered who I was (laughs). If you send an E-mail to the address associated with this account, that is perfectly fine, but feel free to use the other E-mail address I listed above (as that is my primary one – and is my actual first and last name).

    Thank you again Adam for dedicating not only the time, but your energy and resources as well. Being in my late twenties now, I can honestly say I have matured from who and what I was all the way back then, and can say with all my heart, mind, and soul that I would be more than over-joyed to contribute to this collective of fine writers and Nintendo enthusiasts in whatever manner and in whatever position you boys, girls, men, women, and all-around Pokemon breeders would find appropriate.

    If, to make it official, proper-etiquette and all, it would be appropriate to submit an official application, I would be more than happy to do so. Thanks again for putting up with my wordiness (the kind of which would make dictionaries blush and cry) and again for giving your time and energy. I look forward to your response, at either E-mail address, or here at this site-section.

    You know what, I will go and fill out an application, just to make it fair and square. All the best Nintenbro.

  • 0 points
    says...

    Thanks Adam,

    I sent my application in last night to the nd_hiring@yahoo.com address. Crafted an on-the-spot editorial for it and filled in all the appropriate information. If you’ve enjoyed some of my prior writings here on the site, you should definitely check it out. I would love to hear what you think about it.

    Thanks again Adam for giving me the encouragement to take these steps. The application itself was a worthwhile endeavour to take on, and I cherish in having taken advantage of the opportunity. I look forward myself to seeing your own writings and news in the upcoming days and weeks – all the best Poke-homie.

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