Many have heard and been victim of the Twilight Princess bugs that will leave you stuck in an area, unable to continue the game. My question is, do you think Nintendo will release a newer version of Twilight Princess that addresses these issues and corrects them?

I know in the past, they have released updated versions of games later on in the life cycle, such as Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time, where version 1.2 removed bugs/glitches, changed the color of Ganondorf's blood and removed a Muslim chant from the Fire Temple.

I know it is a little 20th-century, but with a big question mark on downloadable game updates, don't you think it would be better to release a newer version and allow people who are stuck on a game save to perhaps borrow or rent a new version(or mail them an exchange for free)to continue as well as not have it be an issue with late Zelda adopters?

- Michael
Minnesota

There's no doubt they already have. The GameCube version does not have these issues (as I alluded to in last week's mailbag), and one of our Australian readers who also wrote in to the mailbag mentioned that the Aussie/European Wii version doesn't have them, either. It sounds like Nintendo took care of the problem within a week or two, made a new master disc for reproduction and shipped the fixed version out across the world. America has them by now, more than likely. People who haven't yet bought Twilight Princess shouldn't need to worry about the save problems. Nintendo doesn't leave big bugs in their games if they know about them.

About getting the new version of Zelda, I thought about suggesting that to the poor guy (or gal) who wrote in about that last week. Then I thought, the save would have the information that the NPC was no longer in the cannon room, but also that you couldn't continue until you talked to him. The new version would load that save, and it may put them back in the same situation. It could also recognize that and straighten things out in the new version, though. I honestly don't know how it could work if it was possible.

Just had a quick question that occured to me as the new Phoenix Wright game was released.

Thet last game was a sleeper hit to be sure, and Capcom never truly seemed to deliver more shipments as they promised. I lucked into receiving a copy of the first game, but otherwise I don't think I would have ever gotten a hold of it.

Now the second game is out, and I feel some urgency about picking it up before it sells out and Capcom refuses to ship out any more. Should I really be worried? Could Capcom have learned their lesson and is planning on shipping out more copies of the sequel? Or are they going to pull another Konami and do a limited run?

- TMW
Galactic Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha

I'm betting they'll do a limited run, but not as limited of a run as the first game. Capcom is actually a relatively small publisher (smaller than Konami, I think) and is notorious for shipping out limited quantities of product in an attempt to curb product surplus, minimizing profit loss. They want to quickly sell every single unit they make, in other words.

The first Phoenix Wright was something of a gamble for Capcom, so it was understandable that they had a very small supply of games at its launch. They were looking to test the waters in America (Phoenix Wright was already successful in Japan), but instead got caught off-guard by the game's success. They certainly weren't planning a second production run until the high demand dictated they do otherwise.

PW2 will still be a tough find, but it won't be as hard as it was to locate the first game. It's still a niche game no matter how many people show interest in it, so Capcom will take things slowly and try to satisfy demand without overdoing it on their end.

First when is the News Channel supposed to go online?

Second when can we expect osme 3rd party games to go online if ever?

Next has Nintendo, Sega or Namco announced any light guns games for Wii?

It seams to me everyone was excited for that possibility yet so far none have been released or announced as far as I can tell.

Last Question, hs it been confirmed or denies that MP3 will have online play? Thanks for being such a cool site and I hope you can provide some answers.

- animecyberrat aka segagamer12

First, January 27. That's this Saturday!

Second, see Elebits, which has some online features in it already. Until Nintendo starts coming forward with some real online games, though, don't expect third parties to do so. (More about that later.) We should hear something around the beginning of April when Nintendo completes its fiscal year.

Next, not yet. It's still too early in the game to be thinking about that, since the Zapper is still a prototype.

Last, it's up in the air right now. If you'll direct your attention to our E3 2006 Metroid Prime 3 interview, you'll see that Retro and Nintendo were "talking about several ways" to take advantage of WiiConnect24. Preceding that, however, they said were focusing all of their efforts into making the single player game the absolute best it can be. The single player in Echoes wasn't as universally praised as the adventure in the first game, no doubt because of the multiplayer "experiment" taking time away from it. I would rather see no multi in Corruption (and therefore, no online multiplayer), but that's not to say I don't want some sort of online mode. Online leaderboards for percentage and speed run times would be pretty sweet, I think.

Since the format of E3 has changed, how are Nintendo and other companies planning on showcasing their upcoming games? E3 was always used as a way to show off development of upcoming games, and announcing new titles. What will they be doing in place of that?

- wizard79

The old E3 was the central event put on by the ESA to promote the game industry. When it first started, it made sense for everyone to come to the same convention center and make it easier for the mainstream press to take in all in. As the mainstream got more in to games, E3 started to become nothing more than an expensive show that anyone could sneak into.

The new E3 won't be that much different than the old E3. The primary goal of the show—promoting new games to the press and retail—will remain unchanged. Announcements will still be made, games will still be shown and work will still get done. It will just take place in a more efficient environment, where companies don't need to spend as much money or waste a lot of time showing off games to people who ultimately don't affect how well they sell.

And it's not like everything happens at E3, either. Companies have been holding their own press events for some time. Take for instance, Nintendo's Days of Twilight event for Zelda, or Square-Enix's little December press confrence where they revealed Dragon Quest IX for the DS. Zelda was on the verge of releasing, and Square-Enix wanted to spur sales of Dragon Quest Monsters Joker. Though E3 has been moved to a better date in July, every publisher will have different things going on at any given time. It makes more sense for them to announce what they want when they want, rather than to wait until May when it may not be to their best advantage. There will be a little more emphasis placed on these individual events, but E3 will still be E3. Many announcements are made during the summer months, where the show dates have been shifted to, so you'll see a lot of them made there.

Hey bag,

I know that information on the Wii Resident Evil game is sketchy at best, but I have a question for you to speculate on. Considering the graphical leaps forward we saw on the cube for the RE1 remake, do you think we'll see similar graphical updates for the other games chronicled (RE2, Code Veronica, etc.), or just new controls? How far do you think Capcom will take this project?

Thanks!

- Larrio

They'd better make it look as good as Resident Evil 4, that's for damn sure. Of all of the developers out there, Capcom was one of the few that really pushed the GameCube. They'd be the most familiar with the hardware environment out of all the third parties, so there will no excuse if they can't make the previous RE games look as good as number 4 in the smörgåsbord Wii version.

I don't expect Umbrella Chronicles to be a quick and sloppy port with waggle added, if you know what I'm getting at.

I see the newer sales data and Zelda Twilight Princess isn't doing so hot.

Wii sports is kicking its ass, Wiiplay too and even Wario Ware Smooth Moves.

While I enjoy Wiiplay, if I'm buying a Nintendo system I'm buying zelda firstmost the rest is just icing on the cake. Heck if it wasn't for pak in I wouldn't of picked up Wiisports because it didn't intrest me before I actually played it. I heard Wiiplay is a decent game that comes with controller but do you really NEED to have more than 1 controller? and one copy of that game, you would think the sales of that would stablelize.

I think Wario is blast to play, but still ZELDA is priority. I had a gamecube, I sold it to buy a Wii FOR NEW ZELDA.

Japan has always loved RPG's but they are totally ignoring zelda for no reason. TP is awesome, and should be #1 on your list if your buying a Wii not #4.

What's the deal it makes no sense to me. Minigames are fun sure but I need a REAL GAME as well as minigames to make me a happy gamer. It makes no sense to me can you please explain why zelda is selling bad in Japan.

- adv2k1

I assume you mean the Wii version is selling "bad." It's the only one that has been showing up on the Japanese sales charts, and yes, it is a bit lower down then we would expect. There's a reason it's that way, though.

Don't forget that the GameCube version of the game went on sale at the same time as the Wii launched in Japan on December 2. Nintendo only made the GC version available to purchase online through Nintendo, meaning Media Create (the Japanese firm responsible for J-sales data) wasn't able to track how many units it sold. The low Wii figures for Zelda tell me that, more than likely, a significant number of people pre-ordered and purchased Twilight Princess for the GameCube through Nintendo. It would make the most sense to me, since they love Zelda as much as we do.

Collectively, the two versions of Zelda should be selling very well in Japan. I suppose we'll need to wait for numbers from Nintendo to verify that, however.

Do you have any idea why there's so little wii point cards in stores? I mean is there anyway you guys at nintendo world report can ask nintendo whether or not they're shipping anymore in a few weeks, I've check stores for 3 weeks now everyday and noone has any to speak of, also, wouldn't it be more convenient for nintendo and the consumer just to issue code generators to all stores to print up a ticket for the consumer instead of this little card that's curiously overpackaged?

- taterWRC
Florence Alabama

I wouldn't know too much about that, since I just use my credit card to buy points directly from my Wii. It's actually cheaper to do so that way because you don't get charged sales tax.

With how the Wii Points cards work, it's not that strange to see the giant blister packs protecting them. It would be too easy to scratch off the code and redeem a card without paying for it, otherwise. Issuing some kind of code generator would cost Nintendo way too much money than it's worth, and could be easily abused, so I don't see that being very practical.

But there's still the issue of not being able to find them. It's either because Nintendo hasn't been shipping them out, or people are buying them left and right. I'd guess it's a little bit of both. If I were you, I'd keep checking the electronics stores and specialty game retailers in your area, and pester them about the cards. If people keep asking for them, they should eventually cave and order more in.

Hi guys, is it possible to play Wii games in widescreen on a 4:3 TV (in letterbox form)? I find it as annoying as watching movies in pan-and-scan. Please help!

- Patrick
Seattle

Unless an individual game has a specific mode that can facilitate this, then unfortunately the answer is no. Your only options are to play in 4:3 or get a TV that supports wide screen display modes. Sorry!

What's up. I wanted to get your thoughts on the recent contest held by the California radio station. It was a sad situation for Ms. Strange and her family, and I certainly wish them all the best. My question is in regards to Nintendo's postion on the matter, if they have one at all. I remember all the fuss that everyone made over the choice of name for the console, and I'm not blaming Nintendo for this incident since no one could have predicted this, but the radio station exploited the Wii name brand for the purpose of their contest. I just wonder what you thought about how Nintendo would respond, or whether or not you think they should respond. Thanks for reading and have a good weekend.

- JC
Texas

We touch base on this issue a little bit in this week's upcoming episode of Radio Free Nintendo, but let me flesh out my thoughts on this whole debacle here.

If you're a regular reader of the site (of course you are) you may have noticed we didn't give any news coverage to this event. This wasn't an oversight on our part. We felt that the death of a woman due to water intoxication was completely unrelated to our scope of coverage. Yes, she was trying to win a Wii for her family. But would we consider reporting it if she was trying to win a PlayStation 3? What if she was trying to win a car? The main story here is that a woman, very tragically, died due to the negligence of a radio station. It has absolutely nothing to do with Nintendo as a company, or even video games for that matter. It's just like the case about the British boy who was killed when he unplugged an electronics device while wet. That doesn't have anything to do with our industry, even if he was unplugging a Game Boy. Those kinds of stories are ripe for blogs, but not for us.

Anyway, to answer your question, Nintendo doesn't need to do anything, and frankly, shouldn't do anything. Unless they provided the system for the contest (highly unlikely) or was otherwise a sponsor, there is nothing connecting the passing of the woman to Nintendo. If anything, Nintendo will get some unintentional press coverage out of this, though I think they would rather not see people dying to get it.

Help me NWR, I just bought Eleit Beat Agents and I can't stop playing it! I'm shure some of you people over there have had this problem (it did get a perfect score) how have you kept EBA from taking over your life? This game is so addicting I could shure use some help.

- Viewtiful mario

For me, I imported Ouendan and got the addiction out of my system long before Elite Beat Agents arrived. It's too late for you, but at least you know that the addiction will fade away.

Eventually.

Hey mailbag,

I am about to upgrade to a shiny new HDTV and naturally want to upgrade to component cables for my Wii and possibly my PS2. The problem is the television I'm getting only has one Component Input, I've only found one solution. They are XCM Cables (which connect Wii/PS2/PS3/360) and you can switch between them...for $30 it isn't a bad idea. The problem is that the quality of these cables seem mediocre at best (and if somebody at NWR has tested these I'd like to know). Spending so much on an HDTV, I want the best quality I can squeeze out of my gaming systems. Are there any cables you know of in the making that are supposed to be of higher quality or even a decent system selector/switcher that is not too expensive (no more than $50 if possible).

Thanks mailbag...keep up the good work guys.

- TheGreenElf
Hyrule

There is another solution, actually. Instead of relying on spotty third-party cables, you can go one better use a switcher box. Pelican makes one that accepts composite, s-video, component and even ethernet jacks from four consoles, and routes them all to a single output you can hook up to your television and/or modem. Here's the listing at Best Buy, but you can probably find them elsewhere. Not a bad for under $30!

I was just wandering if you knew anything about Nintendo finally making good on their promise or statement about expansion packs for DS games. Nintendo stated that they could add new content to DS games by using GBA slot on the system. So far I believe there has been only one game in Japan to have a update pack. Did Nintendo just make that statement to be cool or do the really have plans to upgrade games. New levels of Mario Kart DS would be awesome right now. I wandering because has a history of saying things they can do, but never do it when it comes to upgrades. Which makes me think we might not get any new Wii Channels.

- TheWon

I don't remember Nintendo explicitly "promising" this feature for the DS. They just said it would be possible. Daigasso Band Bros. is the game you referred that has a GBA expansion pack (and is a damn good one, too), but like you said, it's the only one out there at the moment. Nintendo has a history of showing off features for consoles and handhelds that eventually never take off, but never go as far as to set it in stone that it will happen. With the DS expansion packs, I think the limited size of the GBA cartridges makes it impractical to offer an expansion that's as of large as a scope as a full-fledged game. It worked with Band Bros. because of how small the extra songs were, but to produce a GBA cartridge with enough memory to hold a bunch of Mario Kart DS tracks, it would be more economical to just make a brand-new game and put it on a DS card.

Don't worry about not seeing new Wii Channels, though. The Forecast and Internet Channels are already here, and the News Channel is hitting at the end of the week. To me it seems as if Nintendo is very intent on adding new content for the Wii, and they wouldn't dare abandon something so tightly integrated with the system so soon in its life cycle. Plus, all Nintendo would need to do is program it and place it on their servers for download. There would be no costly memory to buy or cartridges to produce, which is the reason why the DS expansion option isn't taking off as much as you think it should.

I noticed you have an article on 8 player games, does this mean 4 Wiimotes and 4 Gamecube controls?

- Ranma Saotome S

No, the eight-player mode in Bust-A-Move Bash will use four remote/nunchuk combo controllers. Two people will hold either half of one controller, making it possible for eight people to play on the same Wii system.

First of all, awesome job on the site! The new format really goes a long way.

Now, about this Super Smash Bros. Brawl... am I the only one who thinks that the game will not only miss '07 but will also lose online play? Don't take that the wrong way--I'm as big a Smash brothers fan there can be. But given the volume of content included in Melee, Sakurai and co. really have their work cut out for them. To 1-up Melee is not an envious job and I see that as being almost impossible to do before 2008 without cutting a few corners. Mini-games, awards, missions... all should very well thought-out and they're certainly very time consuming to design, implement, and test. No doubt, this is an epic undertaking, and I would argue it's even moreso than a new Virtua Fighter or Soul Calibur.

I seriously doubt Nintendo will be able to give us that online mode for which we've all wanted. I know they promised us (before the game even started development according to Sakurai's site) but I think that may have been a bit much. SEGA stated that Virtua Fighter 5 will not have an online game because they couldn't get around the latency issues. Ditto for PS2's Soul Calibur III, as I came to understand it. Not even Capcom and Microsoft could get Street Fighter II to work right on Xbox Live, even after numerous delays. I didn't even want to mention the problems I had with DoA 4.

As much as I really want to play with my friends who reside in other cities, I'm just skeptical that Nintendo can do it. They do not have as solid a platform as Microsoft regarding online and it certainly has not been a priority for them. I want to be clear, that's not a complaint. But realistically, I don't think even Xbox Live would be able to handle a game as intensely elegant as Smash Bros. Especially four players. Smash Bros. has more going on than any other fighting game I know--especially with the changing stages, items, and other projectiles, including characters themselves. Timing is essential to the gameplay and it's certainly more complicated than a one-on-one fighter in concept.

My question is: what are you thoughts and realistic expectations regarding this issue, and have you heard any rumblings from within the industry about this game that is--according to Nintendo, at least--not that far on the horizon.

Thank you very much!

- J. Hart

Ah yes, the SSBB online question. I've addressed this a few times before in the mailbag, but I have something to add to my previous ramblings. So I'll answer it again!

When Nintendo President Satoru Iwata first announced the game's existence at E3 2005, he stated that he would do his best to see that it was released at launch, and more importantly, would be online. It wasn't too surprising to see that the game got delayed, but his statement about being online may make or break the success of Nintendo's online plans.

I am strongly of the opinion that Super Smash Brosl Brawl. absolutely, positively must be playable online, else WiiConnect24 and Nintendo online will be doomed. There are many reasons I believe this, but chiefly, the other two system will have online games that define their consoles: The Xbox 360 will have Halo 3, and the PlayStation 3 will have Gran Turismo 5. If Nintendo's defining multiplayer game doesn't have online gameplay, that'll send a message to other publishers that the Wii isn't the type of console for the online generation. If Nintendo doesn't want to make their big game online for the Wii, then why should other companies? If feel that's what's at stake here.

You've probably heard me mention that many times before. However, already there are rumors of Brawl being pushed back into 2008. What would a delay mean for the Wii? It depends on the reasoning. If Nintendo comes out at E3 this July and states that we won't see SSBB until next year because they were adding online play, that would be a perfectly acceptable scenario. If it was confirmed the game would be online, that may be enough for other companies to start doing more with Wii online (but hopefully, they've already done so a little by then).

Then there's the issue of playing fighting games online. The slightest hint of lag can totally screw up a game in a genre that requires such strict timing. It's hard to do with two people playing, let alone the four players that Smash Bros. can accommodate. There's also the factor that Nintendo isn't that experienced with programming online games. They've been getting better with every wave of Wi-Fi DS games, but still have absolutely no real-world home console experience to fall back on. This, at a time when they absolutely must have an online Smash Bros. game ready within the next year. To add a little more gas to the fire, Iwata himself said he wanted the game playable online.

I don't know how Nintendo is going to do it. I'm usually pessimistic about everything, and this case is no exception. The only way Nintendo can satisfy everyone looking forward to Brawl is to release it before March 2008 and have online four-player battles. If it comes out in 2007, it had damn sure better have online play. But that's a really tall order, even for Nintendo. I'm curious to see how it unfolds, but right now I feel that the deck is not stacked in Nintendo's favor.

Hey, Nintendo World Report, here's a question that was really never clarified to me. Can people just buy the normal SD cards for use on the Wii, or do we have to shell out the extra money for the white cards that were specifically released for the system? If we can use normal cards, then why were the Wii SD cards released? I'd rather be able to get a 4GB SD card from Newegg, than have to spend extra for a Wii specific one with less space.

- Linka0013
Chicago, Illinois

Any SD brand will work, although I'm not sure if the Wii can read cards with high capacities. A 4GB card may be risky, since not all SD readers can accept them. You'd be safe with a 2GB card. If you're still insisting on a 4, though, try checking with Nintendo to see if it's compatible.

There was a preview at E3 I believe it was of a game that takes place underwater. I think it was called Diver but I could be mistaken. Is there any news, is it still under way?

- LEW
Austin, TX

The game you are referring to is entitled Forever Blue. It was announced matter-of-factly amongst the other games in the weeks before the Wii launch (not at E3, actually), so nothing is really known about it. At least you know what it's called now!

I'm asking for your expert opinions on this question. When do you guys think Nintendo will release their 3 big guns they have planned for the Wii in 2007. Will they spread them out or bunch them up around a holiday 2007 release.

They already have two huge ones for DS in Pokemon and Zelda for this year. How do you guys think the release schedule will shake out. I only ask this now because of the total lack of news over the last few weeks.

- wiggles

We also talked about this in this week's upcoming podcast (available this Wednesday), particularly about Metroid Prime 3. Some people believe that it won't show up until much later in the year, as far off as the end of the summer. I think it'll still show up toward the end of the spring, as in late April or May. Between now and this summer, there aren't any headline Nintendo releases on the calendar. I can't see Nintendo pushing back Metroid to after June, not because it would be crowding with Mario and Smash Bros. (not that we wouldn't buy all three instantly), but because it would create a very large void. There are a lot of good third party games coming (again, check out the podcast), but everyone buys Nintendo hardware for Nintendo games. We want Nintendo games.

Mario Galaxy would make a good opening to the holiday period (say, September or October), and then Smash Bros—if it releases in 2007—would be perfect in November or December. That's how I hope to see it shake out.

That's enough mailbag for this week. Tune in one week from today (next Monday) for the start of a very special week here at Nintendo World Report. I won't tease you with any details right now, other than it's one of the biggest things we've done on the site in a very long time. Come back here next Sunday night for the next mailbag update, and I'll spill a little bit more.

Naturally, I'll be accepting your questions all week long. The mailbag submission form is right down there. You can also hit up the talkback thread if you prefer leaving comments.

See you next week!