Hi guys. I have a question for the bag: does the Nunchuk attachmet have rumble feedback built in? I'm sure you guys would know, since you used it at E3. I was just thinking about the Metroid Prime 3 footage, where you push the Nunchuk forward, and then twist it to open locks. I began to wonder how without rumble feedback, that you would know when you had pushed the Nunchuk forward far enough that you could twist it. Without some sort of rumble feedback to indicate the lock was grabbed or fully turned, it seems to me that the experience would feel very detached and not very immersive. I'm sure other games would need the feedback for indicating things for the user aswell.

Thanks again guys!

NINTENDOGAMER17

The nunchaku part of the Wii controller does not, and have rumble functionality. (The remote half will still have it, despite some grumblings to the contrary.) I think it would be better for Nintendo to include a rumble motor in the nunchaku, since developers would be able to do stuff like independently triggering vibration in each of the halves, or having feedback for nunchaku-only actions, like throwing out the grapple beam in Metroid Prime. (By the way, I believe the turning the lock you are mentioning was done with the remote part of the controller, not the analog stick half.) Not having it isn't going to be that big of a deal, since nunchaku actions can still trigger remote rumble. It may be strange at first, but I suppose people can get used to it.

So I know that you guys want some new questions that haven't been asked yet. While I've been reading the bag lately and haven't noticed this question come up yet:

Do you guys think that we will be able to buy Wii games and accesories ahead or before the Wii's launch. I don't know about you, but I just want to hold that precious controller in my hands! I also think it would be great so that we all would be able to have everything ready so we can be assured that once we get the Wii, we will be able to play it with everything we need. This way we wouldn't have to worry about not being able to get a certain game we wanted or not getting a second controller on launch date. Any thoughts?

By the way, I love reading the bag, so keep it up!

- Steve From Wisconsin

Games will definitely show up a few days before the official launch date of the console. If memory serves, Super Monkey Ball and a few other GC games were released to retail in the week before the Cube launched. Xbox 360 games popped up early as well. A combination of publishers looking for a few extra launch sales and retailers not knowing any better will lead to Wii games on some store shelves ahead of the console they need to be played on. Nintendo's games won't be there until day one, though.

Same deal with Wii accessories. Or at least, the official Nintendo accessories. The shipping boxes from Nintendo containing the launch day Wii systems, accessories and games will have explicit instructions to not sell them until they day they are to be sold...or else. Third party accessories have a much better chance of showing up pre-launch, but really, who wants that crap?

As I was packing for school today, I unplugged my Gamecube and was wiping it off, and I saw the expansion ports on the bottom of it, and that made me think- Why is it that on both the N64 and GCN the big N put these expansion slots on them, and yet almost nothing used the ports? There was the failed N64 Disk Drive (I mean, really...why?), the GCN modem/LAN Adapter, and the GBA player. The LAN adapter should have been built in, and the GBA player wasn't all that new of an idea. Is there anything else I'm missing? Did they have plans for them at one point that got scrapped? Do we know if the Wii has any of these black sheep slots?

Alan

Nintendo has always been forward-thinking. By putting those ports on the bottom of their previous systems, Nintendo gave themselves the option to offer add-on hardware later on if it would be something that people would be willing to shell out extra bucks for. The Game Boy Player is Nintendo's best success in that light, but as seen with every other hardware extension before it, from the joke that was the GC modem all the way back to the failed SNES-CD project, things don't always work out the way Nintendo would have liked.

The Wii doesn't appear to have any extension ports like those seen on the GameCube. However, with the system's two USB ports, SD card slot, internal flash memory and wireless capability coming standard, Nintendo can still expand on the Wii if they have a good reason to. Especially the USB ports: Nintendo wouldn't have included them unless they were planning to use USB for future products.

Howdy-Doody, Bag O' Mail

I realize it's probably a bit early to be looking ahead towards Nintendo's next console after the Wii, but I was having a discussion about it earlier today, and I just had to get someone else's perspective on this.

If the Wii turns out to be the greatest thing since the Game Boy, following up on what Iwata's been saying all this time, and actually changes the way we percieve games, would the next console have the Wii's motion-sensing tech, or do you think Iwata's Nintendo (that is; the Nintendo geared towards engaging non-gamers in it's games) would design something new?

It's the same thing with the DS. Personally, I can't see Nintendo releasing a DS Advance, with the same touch-screen/dual screen/microphone, only with GCN quality graphics. I don't know what I see them releasing, but it isn't that.

It just seems like Wii is just such a singular way of playing games that a sequel with updated graphics and a hard drive would certainly lack the "revolutionary" concept that has us all excited right now.

But I'm probably reading WAY too much into this. But your thoughts on the subject would be most appreciated.

Sincerely,

-Leopard Skin Leotard

Satoru Iwata has always said about the DS and Wii that they were designed so both newbies and the hardcore alike could start from the same starting line. With the Wii, for example, the same controller that shoots at bad guys in an advanced FPS such as Metroid Prime 3 can be used to swing a tennis racket in simple game like WiiTennis. By using a system like that, Nintendo hopes to lure in new gamers with the simple aspect, then gradually give them more advanced games until they turn into someone that won't be taken aback by a game that requires the analog stick and all buttons on the remote. The more familiar a control method is, the less intimidated you are by it...hence the TV remote design of the Wii controller.

If you think about it, people who have grown up with games have done what Nintendo intends to do, but over a longer period. We all started out with the NES controller, which was just a D-Pad and two main buttons. After that came the SNES controller, which added some more buttons on the face and on the shoulders. The original PlayStation controller upped the ante with double shoulder buttons. The N64 controller mystified all that used it, what with its three-pronged shape, analog stick, six-button layout and Z-trigger. The Dreamcast saucer had two analog triggers. Sony eventually put two clickable analog sticks on its pad, which eventually turned into the de facto standard game controller. Experienced gamers look at the controllers of today without a second thought, because they grew up with their increasing complexity.

Nintendo wants to give a simple controller to people who have never played games or who haven't played games in several years. After they use it for a while and learn its nuances, they can start to go into games that might use more buttons and/or the analog stick attachment. Once the majority of new gamers are familiar with the higher functions of the controller, Nintendo can introduce a new console with a new controller that is similar to, but slightly more advanced than the Wii controller. Kind of like how the SNES controller was to the NES controller.

I'm getting off course a bit. Getting back to the subject, the Wii revolution is a one-time deal only. In five or six years when Nintendo is ready to reveal their new console, it will probably come with the same anticipation and excitement as previous console transitions did. NES to SNES, PS1 to PS2, Xbox to Xbox 360; Wii to Wii 2 will be just like those were. No revolution will take place. Just another evolution. Make the new box adequately powerful (hopefully as powerful as the competition next time around), make it affordable, and make great games for it...that's all they need to do. The difference between then and now is that (hopefully) Nintendo will have a much larger market share and a population that is more experienced in the ways of gaming.

Dear PlanetGamecube Mailbag

Hey there! Long time reader, first time writer. I was just wondering about the following: the GBA saw huge success from relaunched SNES and NES ported games (e.g. mario world, mario bros 3, zelda: link to the past, etc.). I was wondering if you believe that nintendo would continue this practice with the DS, by giving the consumer ported n64 games (obviously with some changes to keep it a fresh product)? I mean, with the mixed reviews Star Fox Command recieved, isnt it easier for nintendo to play it safe and release a sure hit (starfox 64) rather than entering uncharted territory that would not be recieved well by the majority?

long live planet gamecube (soon to be planet wii I assume)

Gizmo.

Porting NES and SNES games to the GBA was a quick and easy thing. Porting N64 games to the DS would not be as easy. Sure, the handheld is powerful enough to handle N64 games, but the layout of the DS is not adequate enough to control them. The touch screen or D-Pad are not a good replacements for the analog stick—see Super Mario 64 DS (if Nintendo can't get it right, nobody will)—and many N64 games relied heavily on analog control. Porting over most of the more successful N64 games could wield some undesirable results because of it. Nintendo will make some coin selling their library of Nintendo 64 games on Virtual Console, so why bother spending the money with a DS port that may not be the best in the world?

To answer your question, Nintendo should stay committed to bringing new stuff to the table. One of the driving reasons behind the phenomenal success of the DS is completely because of the original games for it. Mario 64 was a nice bonus, and the upcoming Yoshi's Island 2 will be a really, really nice bonus, but for every one of those new old games, Nintendo and their third parties are giving us five or ten new new games. Nintendogs, Brain Age, New Super Mario Bros., Kirby Canvas Curse, Meteos, the DS Castlevanias, Feel the Magic, Phoenix Wright, Trauma Center...the list goes on. I would play any two or three of those over any N64 port that may be, and the majority of consumers would, too.

Thanks for your questions. I get them all, but unfortunately I can't answer them all. Keep them coming anyway, because I like quality and quantity! The bag's email address is at the bottom of this page. Don't forget about the Mailbag Talkback forums thread or the Mailbag Archive!

Never forget, folks. Never forget.