E3 2011 Megathread

Ringleader wrote:Nintendo is learning at an exponential rate.

Idk... I mean, Nintendo's thing has always been about innovation. I may dislike the Wii, but at least it was fresh and unique. It's Nintendo's quirkiness that has kept it afloat in the past few years. Now it seems as though they're trying to settle in with the tried-and-true systems that Xbox and Playstation have been working on. That's fine and all, but Nintendo is going to be ages behind Sony and M$... it will certainly be interesting to see how they try to overcome that gap.

That big PSP-looking controller already gives Nintendo an advantage with RPG and RTS games - at least as far as controls are concerned. It might be too clumsy for other genres, though. I know I wouldn't want to be holding that thing while I'm playing a shooter (then again, shooters have never been Nintendo's thing).

Civ actually has a point. The touch screen controller may make RTS games more feasible, given that your finger could act as a mouse. Hot keys are cool, but the mouse's precision is key to an RTS game's playability.

Well at least to make use of "Micromanagement", An RTS doesnt need a mouse to be stable (BFMEII on the console) It is just enhanced by it.

After Nintendo's showing of the Wii U, RTS's are what I thought about as well. I only wish I had spoken up early about it but I'm glad to see some of you were thinking the same. Using the tablet controller touch screen for RTS games, It will be really interesting to see if Nintendo can do it and do it right. Or for that matter, any developer as most of them seem to be poretty excited about the potential that is there as well. I would love to see some new RTS in the future be ported over or even better, a new RTS IP made exclusive to the Wii U and it's tablet. Of course, we may want to wait on that just to see how this new console and controller play out. But I'll be waiting to see it happen.

Also, I understand the "gap" between Nintendo and the other companys but all I'll say about that is: Even though some may think other wise based on the Wii and the choices they made with that system, Nintendo isn't stupid. I think they are very cabaple of producing this system with a very small gap bewteen Xbox and PS3. Hell, judging by the press conferences, it seems MS and Sony are the ones playing catch up to Nintendo, what with Kinect and Move. But is the new system going to surpass them? Maybe, maybe not, at least not at first. But given enough time, and the amount of possibilities that are in the Wii U and it's tablet controller, I think we may all see someting we'll like in the future.

Nintendo isn't stupid, but that loss of experience is still there. Besides, I think M$ and Sony were just using Move and Kinect to cover their butts with the casual audience.

What I was kinda trying to get at is that even though I didn't really care for the Wii - primarily because they didn't cater to dedicated gamers - I don't want to see Nintendo loose that creative spark. They have pioneered practically every aspect of gaming consoles, and I like how they try to keep things fresh.

Nintendo put out a cheap console that was sold to a broader audiance cheaper than both Sony and Microsoft.... they also doubled the sales of both Sony and Microsoft combined

nintendo isn't behind anybody... they know what they are trying to sell, and thats what they sell to make the most money. if they want a system that competes graphically with the xbox and PS3... thats what they will put out. and now that games like that can be made more cheaply, thats what they will shoot for now.

CivBase wrote:Nintendo isn't stupid, but that loss of experience is still there. Besides, I think M$ and Sony were just using Move and Kinect to cover their butts with the casual audience.

I would be more incline to beleive that Civ, if Sony and MS (MS especially) are trying there ever so hardest with these things. MS E3 this year was pretty much ALL about Kinect. Hell, the new Xbox Dashboard's main focus/point is using the Kinect. I'd say that's more then a "cover their butts" manuver.

CivBase wrote:What I was kinda trying to get at is that even though I didn't really care for the Wii - primarily because they didn't cater to dedicated gamers - I don't want to see Nintendo loose that creative spark. They have pioneered practically every aspect of gaming consoles, and I like how they try to keep things fresh.

I think they catered fine to the dedicated gamer. The Wii's lifecycle for sure had it's nothing new to play period for a good long while, but I think it did fine in the end. Ah yes though, the creative spark. I don't think we need to worry about Nintendo loosing that anytime soon. While the Wii U may seem like a 3DS ducked taped to an iPad, I think most of us can agree that it's pretty unique, creative and new.

Of course, the problem is, potential is all the Wii U is right now. But gotta start somewhere. I bet the developer's can't wait to see what they can do with it.

I dislike it when people say that Nintendo has made all of the innovations. Really the ONLY one I can think of them making was with the Wii. Other than the Wii controller I can't really see anything. On the other hand, Play Station has, every time they released a new console utilized a brand new way to store their game info. I think they also had the first online console with the PS2, but the Original XBox may have had online first I'm not sure.

Of course most if not every system has it's inovations. If in their own way. We were just simply talking Nintendo at the moment is all. But Nintendo does have more then "just the Wii".

I'd say more but I'm rather tired. Someother time maybe.

tiny tim wrote:I dislike it when people say that Nintendo has made all of the innovations. Really the ONLY one I can think of them making was with the Wii. Other than the Wii controller I can't really see anything. On the other hand, Play Station has, every time they released a new console utilized a brand new way to store their game info. I think they also had the first online console with the PS2, but the Original XBox may have had online first I'm not sure.

The dreamcast was was the first online console. N64 was the first controller with a joystick and first 64 bit console and first with 3d graphics. Plastation was first DVD console. Ps2 had first video based motion controlls with the Eye peripheral and first vibrating controller. Xbox was the first console that released with a built in harddrive. Xbox Live was the first console mainstream online gaming service (though admittedly, the dreamcast would have won here, but at the time gaming wasn't too mainstream period). Wii was first motion sensing controller.

I'd say innovation is overall well-split amongst all the contenders. (that was all off the top of my head, so i could be wrong on 1 or 2)

And, fun fact: The Dreamcast is the only console ever created almost entirely out of spite.

Oh no, Sony never steals anything, guys.

1990


1994


I mean, I see no similarities at all. Look, one has handles! And extra shoulder buttons! Innovation at its finest. Oh wait...

D-Pad
Nintendo: 1982 (Donkey Kong)
Nintendo (again): 1983 (NES)
Hudson Soft: 1987 (TurboGrafx-16)
Sega: 1988 (Master Drive/Genesis)
Nintendo (again): 1990 (SNES)
Panasonic: 1993 (3DO)
Atari: 1993 (Jaguar)
Sega (again): 1994 (Saturn)
Sony: 1994 (PlayStation)

Shoulder Button
Nintendo (again): 1990 (SNES)
Amiga: 1993 (Amiga CD32)
Sega (again): 1994 (Saturn)
Sony: 1994 (PlayStation)

360-Degree Analog Stick
Nintendo: 1996 (Nintendo 64)
Sony: 1997 (PlayStation peripheral)

Force Feedback
Nintendo: 1997 (Nintendo 64 peripheral)
Sony: 1997 (PlayStation peripheral)

CD-ROM Media
Hudson Soft: 1987 (TurboGrafx-16 peripheral)
Nintendo: 1991 (SNES peripheral) (canceled; eventually became PlayStation)
Sega: 1991 (Master Drive/Genesis peripheral)
Amiga: 1993 (Amiga CD32)
Panasonic: 1993 (3DO)
SNK: 1994 (Neo Geo peripheral)
Sega (again): 1994 (Saturn)
Sony: 1994 (PlayStation)
Nintendo: Never

DVD-ROM Media
Sony: 2000 (PlayStation 2)
Nintendo: Never

Motion Control
Sega: 1993 (Genesis/Master Drive peripheral)
Sony: 2003 (PlayStation 2 peripheral)
Nintendo: 2006 (Wii)

Radio Frequency Wireless Controller
Nintendo: 2002 (GameCube peripheral)
Sony: sometime later...too lazy to find

"Online" Multiplayer
Sega: 1996 (Saturn peripheral)
Sega (again): 1998 (Dreamcast)
Sony: 2000 (PlayStation 2)
Microsoft: 2001 (Xbox)
Microsoft (again): 2005 (Xbox 360)
Sony (again): 2006 (PlayStation 3)
Nintendo: 2006 (Wii)

You'll note here that Sony very quickly borrows the ideas of others, while Nintendo tends to stubbornly refuse to use the ideas of others.

The biggest exceptions are probably Motion Control, though it should be noted that Nintendo's Wii controller is very inherently different from the Activator and EyeToy, and online, where Nintendo grudgingly included it. Of course, it should be noted that while the Dreamcast was a failure, Sony put much less emphasis on online play than even Sega did until after Xbox Live came out and Sony had to emphasize online play to compete.

I think it's also important to note that Sony basically had a hand in the creation of DVD-ROM, and so it is unsurprising to see them use it first.

much like how Sony is going to have the only Blu-ray console ever. Since they made Blu-ray and own blu-ray.

Vigil wrote:

tiny tim wrote:I can just imagine pro RTS Kinect games. It would be pretty awesome to watch.

Remember that early trailer for RUSE which had the guys manipulating their forces by hand on a CGI map on a table?

Now translate that kinda idea and I think it would be pretty cool, if it was responsive enough.

Ubisoft seem to be the most likely to do it, given what Endwar and RUSE tried to do, but they both seemed to be half steps as they both weren't the best games.

So I'm all for a Kinect RTS game, if they can make it responsive enough to do fast movements and micro.

You can actually play ruse on a touchscreen like the one used in that trailer.

@ DV http://www.npr.org/2011/03/11/134448272/Kinect-Worlds-Fastest-Selling-Consumer-Electronic-Device

Ruski wrote:@ DV http://www.npr.org/2011/03/11/134448272/Kinect-Worlds-Fastest-Selling-Consumer-Electronic-Device

VGCats guy made the comic not me. I never said that it wasn't selling well, I said they are focusing very hard on the Kinect just as a point to what Civ said.