Hey Bag,

Would Nintendo keep 3rd parties quite about whether they will lend support to the Virtual Consoles? It doesn't make sense to me Nintendo would do that...but what do you think?

Apparently not; this week Tecmo announced they will be supporting Virtual Console. Come to think of it, they are the first third party to make such an announcement. Other third parties will jump on the VC bandwagon eventually, but they could be waiting to receive details from Nintendo on how the service will work.

Dear Mailbag Responders,

When the Wii was first shown in pictures (still called the revolution at the time), It was shown in multiple colors such as Luigi Green and Mario Red, etc. So... I was wondering if we(the buyers) will get the option of choosing a different color, besides the white Wii they keep showing us, at the time of launch; or will they be releasing new colors of the Wii over an extended period of time the same way they are releasing new colors for the DS?

Thanks for your time,

Levi

Nintendo will probably have two colors at launch, with the safe bets being on black and white. Just like every console before it, more colors will come out as time passes. Demand can push Nintendo to release different colors as well; just look at how many people want the black DS Lite in Japan. If Wii can replicate that success, there won't be too long of a wait before more colors are announced and released.

I know Wii is not HD compatible, but I have seen pictures of it running on a widescreen moniter. Does this mean Wii will support an HD compatible display mode like 16:9 w/480p ?

Thanks, Ted.

The GameCube and PS2 were capable of it, so of course the Wii will also be. The 16:9 and 480p options are actually enabled in games by their developers, so if you don't see a Wii game that doesn't support one or both, it's totally the developer's fault!

How YOU doin?,

I was wondering if Nintendo would try to circumvent cheating over the Nintendo WIFI connection. You know how with the old pokemon games you could use gameshark to make your pokemon level 200? Well would Nintendo be able to detect the irregularity if it wanted to, and ban tampered games from using their servers?

Cheating is fine when you are playing single player, but when your playing against strangers or friends, people can get pretty furious.

Mysteryman

Cheating is never fine! If someone does in the single player game, what's to stop them from doing it online?

In the case of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, not much. I've heard people encountering cheaters in Metroid Prime Hunters that have infinite health, infinite ammo, all the weapons—what kind of security does Nintendo have if stuff like that can go on unchecked? It doesn't help that playing online against others is a crap shoot, so even if you spot one and drop out of a game to avoid him you may wind up back in the same room again, up against the same cheater. Even if Nintendo did catch someone and ban their NWC ID number, simply using another DS system or a different game card would change their ID and circumvent the ban.

Online cheaters have always been a minority group, but all it takes is a few people to totally ruin a game for everyone else. Let's hope that Nintendo takes this into consideration as they figure out how to deal with Wii online games, because I don't know what would happen if people started to cheat online in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

I just imported a DS Lite Navy and set it's startup option to Auto (to skip the DS menu and go straight to a game if inserted) and I wonder if it has a control similar to the GameCube's; Can i still manually get to the DS menu in auto mode with a game inserted by holding down a key combination or something?

I have read the online manual and FAQ with no information found.

Thanks!

The only way to go to the DS menu screen in auto mode is to take out the DS game card (and GBA game if you have one in) before turning on the system. That's why I think manual mode is better, because if I need to change some settings I don't need to take anything out.

NINJA EDIT by TYP: Don't listen to Windy. To access the menu in auto mode, hold down Start as you turn on the DS (while it is loading the health warning). Manual mode is still better, though, since you'd have to access the menu anyway (or remove the DS card) to load a GBA game.

Why, oh why must the mailbag be updated only once a week? This is, as far as I can tell, a pretty good question, and it's one that's driving me crazy! You guys at Planet Gamecube generally know what you're talking about, so I'd like to here what you think of this:

Every console generation has it's fair share of periphereals, ranging from mice to light guns, racing wheels to dance pads, right? And we know that up to four controllers can interface with the two sensor bars. But what about game or genre specific controllers that also interact with them?

Imagine a boxing game where the user would don a pair "boxing gloves" (utilizing the "player one" and "player two" Wii remote frequencies). You could be virually in the ring, jabbing and hooking just like a pro. Or an ankle strap for soccer games, so you could "kick" the ball as it comes your way. Since the sensors can read up to four moving objects at once, what's to prevent developers, and even Nintendo themselves (who have already proved with several DK titles that they are far from below releasing controller-specific games), from developing periphereals more relevant to the actual gameplay than a simple white remote could ever be?

So my question is, am I wrong, or is it completely possible that developers will release other types of controllers that can interact with the sensors? It seems to me as if this couldr open up an even bigger world of possibilities that the remote will!

It won't happen as you envision it. Doing something like making a boxing glove controller would be redundant, since the exact same function could be done by holding one controller in each fist. (Actually, the nunchaku part of the controller could probably do the job instead of a second remote.) Instead, custom peripherals are more likely to work by somehow inserting the main Wii remote into them, just like the Wii Zapper prototype that was on display at E3. For instance, a Wii steering wheel could just be a shell in which the controller snaps into, and turning it would cause Wii the remote to tilt and control what's happening on screen. It would be nice, since the accessory wouldn't need any batteries outside of the Wiimote and it would always be wireless.

Yo Gnarly dudes. Im an Australian using american language.... That previous statement is a metaphore describing how much effort Nintendo puts into localising their games. Now my question is, why can't/ doesnt nintendo AU localise games like AC/AC:WW? I mean it gets really anoying when youre playing in the middles of freezing winter, only to have all the characters talk about how hot the weather is. Its even worse in summer. Also ive noticed that they don't bother to localise spelling in many of the games. Now I know this is only considered a small aspect of gaming. But is there hope for the future? Do you think that Nintendo Australia, or nintendo (some other country) will pick up the game and do a better job at localising, particularly with the already popular Wii? Or will they be just as lazy when it comes to that compartment?

Sammuel Lapp.

Seasons play a very big role in the Animal Crossing's design, and flipping them would not be worth the time and resources needed to do it. Nintendo would basically need to re-write the entire game to include summertime Christmas scenarios and other such seasonal holidays. (Plus, they would need to put the spherical landscape of the town on the top screen of the DS and turn it upside-down to make Australians feel more at home. You crazy Australians!) It's much more practical to generalize the game's events into something the majority of the world can understand (Yay Day!) and release it around the globe as-is. That's actually a good thing for you guys, because if you had a different version of the game you wouldn't be able to visit the villages of people around the world, just your own country's. Kind of how like the Japanese version can't hop online with any of the other versions (though that is mostly because of the language difference).

The best Australia can hope for is to always get the UK English version of games, rather than a generic American version that is distributed globally. Animal Crossing is an extreme case because of the insane amount of text and content, so it's not that surprising there's only the single English script for it. Just be glad you get your games in a language you can speak and understand, because there are other mid-sized markets (Korea) don't always get that luxury.

I have two unrelated questions, but they are on my mind;

1) Do the trigger buttons on the nunchuk have the click feature that the L & R triggers on the cube controller have? It seems the lower one on the chuk mirrors the cube’s L or R, just wondering if it’s the same.

2) N-Space has grown in size; do you believe that the big N is helping with the financial end of their growth (new building, computers etc.)? I guess where I’m going with this questions is, we have seen Nintendo lose some 2nd parties over recent years, It seems they would rather invest money in a project ( Battalion Wars, Geist , Excite Truck) than buy into a company & have it become a 2nd party. What do you think the relationship is between Nintendo & N-Space? I’m one of the few who actually liked Geist & would like to see a sequel & other original IP’s from them & not have them jump ship.

Thanks

Brandon

1) The C and Z buttons on the analog stick half of the full Wii controller are just regular buttons. They are contoured to fit the finger, but aren't analog like the GameCube controller's shoulder buttons.

2) N-Space and Nintendo are business partners, just like Nintendo is partners with any other company developing a game for them. Of course, Nintendo has the experience and talent to provide developers like N-Space with ideas and suggestions (see our Geist interview for more on that) and the bankroll to fund them if more time is needed to finish up a game. I don't know if Nintendo is directly paying for N-Space's expansion, but the reason for it is N-Space is developing Wii games. It would appear that whatever the developer is working on, Nintendo is going to be involved with it in some way, probably as publisher.

What is going on with Nintendo Wi-Fi? Recently, it was announced that Call of Duty 3 for the Wii would not have online multiplayer. I can't believe this!!! Another game that I was planning to get but now I won't. Who's is to blame in all this? If it is Nintendo, we are looking at a huge problem. I hate you Nintendo if this is your fault. I was so excited about the Wii and the Nintendo Wi-Fi (despite the crappy friend codes) but now I am not even sure if I am getting one. It's up to you Red Steel; if that doesn't have online multiplayer then I don't know what I will do. What is your take on this? How do you feel about all these games not having multiplayer and whose fault it is? Can't we do something? Can't we write to the game developers or Nintendo and complain?

Carlos

It seems all but certain that there will be no online gameplay in third party Wii launch titles. Call of Duty 3 probably won't have it, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam doesn't look like it will have it (see our interview here), and unfortunately for you, the star attraction of Ubisoft's lineup, Red Steel, will be lacking online play as well. If the big guns aren't going to be online, nothing else will...perhaps not even Nintendo's launch games. We don't know what games Nintendo will have at launch, but of the candidates there aren't many that look like the type for online multiplayer. Could it be that there will be absolutely no online games for Wii in the first couple of months? Might Virtual Console or WiiConnect24 not be up and running on day one? Would this be a total disaster for Nintendo's chances?

Probably not. Yeah, it's going to suck that the first games on the Wii aren't going to be online. I want to play Red Steel online just like you did, but will a lack of online multiplayer make it a bad game? (If you answered 'Yes' to that question, go buy an Xbox 360.) Not having online at launch is not going to affect the console or Nintendo in the long run. Unlike the GameCube, Nintendo has a plan for online gaming this time. Developers, publishers and gamers all know it's coming, so it's just a matter of Nintendo getting the necessary tools and documentation to developers. It looks like they haven't done it yet, but it could be because Nintendo hasn't finished putting together the WiiConnect24 network. You can't have network games if there is no network for them to run on, after all.

Remember, the Xbox didn't have Xbox Live at launch, either. Live-enabled games popped up everywhere once Microsoft flipped the switch to the servers. Wii won't be that different: Once developers have the documentation, tools and the network, there will be plenty of online Wii games. Publishers want their multiplatform games to have it, developers want to put it in, and Nintendo wants publishers and developers both to do it. Everyone is just going to need to wait until it's ready to go, including the people who want to play Wii games online.

Happy Labor Day! Actually, it's not so happy for us ...we all get to work on our day off! Or at least I do. Anyway, send in those questions. Keep them simple, keep them fresh, and keep 'em coming. Don't forget to include your name, people. I'm getting a lot of good questions that don't have the names of the smart readers that submitted them. You're smart, put your name in the text!

Next week I'll be back with more questions. If you don't come back with me, I'll be lonely and sad. You don't want that to happen to me, do you?

...do you?

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