Hey PGC. Great job on the site! I've been a daily visitor ever since I

found you guys. On to my question...has you heard of any new info on the

Chrono Trigger remake that was being worked on by that group of independant

developers that got shut down by Square Enix? Like, maybe Square Enix

secretly hired them to finish it and are planning on releasing it under

their own label when it's complete? Or they are continuing to work on it

under Square's nose and are going to sell it to another big name publisher

when it's done? I know that's just wishful thinking, but I was heartbroken

when I read your story that the project was shut down (copyright laws be

damned!). If no news on this game, do you happen to have news on any other

Chrono Trigger related project (on any system) that might be in the works,

like a sequel, prequel, etc.? Chrono Trigger is one of my favorite games of

all time and I have been waiting for another game in that series for what

seems like forever (Chrono Cross doesn't count).

Thanks for your time!

Chris

For this answer, I went to the expertise of Michael "TYP" Cole, who was in contact with the CTR team quite a bit before their project was shut down:

"I have no idea what they are working on now, if anything. Don't forget that

those guys also have full-time paid jobs as game developers, and those come

first. I'm pretty sure Square-Enix didn't hire them in secret, though we

all wish they had. There are other Chrono Trigger-related projects, though

none I am very familiar with. Certainly there are none that stand out like CTR.

The Chrono Trigger series is quite popular, and Square-Enix will probably

revisit the series again at some point. At the very least, I think we'll

see the original as a downloadable for the Revolution."

For some reason sqaure's somewhat poor attempts on a full metal alchemist game doesnt present itself to me as a poor effort on squares part. It seems more like that square didnt have the correct hardware to do it on.

Think about it...a Full Metal Alchemist game on the cube with a DS attached by a link cable. With various info and maps on the upper screen and the lower screen used to draw alchemy circles and things to make things happen in the game. Much more interactive and pleasing if you ask me.

What do y'all think?

-Patrick

In Japan, there already is a Full Metal Alchemist game on DS, but it's a beat-em-up in the vein of Final Fight or Double Dragon. I have no idea whether it's any good. By the way, there is no cable to connect the DS to the GameCube, and I doubt there ever will be. Nintendo has said that the DS will be able to connect to the Revolution wirelessly, though.

Hello,

Great, to see you doing mailbags on a relatively regular basis. So here are

my question.

What is the likelihood of a DS price cut by the end of the year? For me

there seem to many reasons for and against. Maybe Nintendo is reluctant to

get into a price war with PSP. Sony seems likely to lower the PS2 price to

$99 in responce to Xbox 360. The new GB mini is on the way with a low price

point (I'm guessing $50 to $60 USD). Alternately Nintendo can just offer

some sort of bundle in order to avoid having the lower the price similar to

what is being done with the Xbox. What do you think will happen?

Relatively regular basis? Anyway, the question of a DS price drop is an interesting one. If Nintendo has the stock to back up such a move, it could cause a tremendous boost in the system's installed base. But I agree with you that it depends greatly on the GB Micro's pricing, as Nintendo will not want the devices to compete with each other too much. The bundling option has already been explored with Super Mario 64 DS, and from what I've heard, it didn't do much to move systems.

First of all, people need to stop talking about Hunters' single

player. I'm as big a Metroid fan as anybody, and the concept is

interesting to me. Just because it's different doesn't mean it will be

bad. Samus is a bounty hunter, so what's wrong with exploring that part

of her? It might flesh the character out better and show a part of her

that we've never seen, the intense fighting. Plus, she's had to have

pissed off countless entities or people, so other people hunting her is

a given. If executed well gameplay wise, which is all that matters in

the end it will be great.

Second, are any PGC writers going to PAX, the Penny Arcade Expo?

Just wondering because I'm an Omeganaut this year, and the prize is a

NES with every game ever made for it, excpt 10, which they are actually

trying to get in time for the competition. If you go, root for YodaAran!

Sam

I'm okay with the bounty hunter aspect being fleshed out, except that bounty hunters don't go around shooting each other. So I don't think that's any sort of explanation for this game being focused on multiplayer. Rick Powers has been to PAX a few times in the past, but I don't know if he'll have time to make it this year.

Dear bag,

With nintendo becoming more and more independent, looking for

innovation in gaming, it was being talked about that it could scare off many

developers. I am a huge sports fan, and also a hardcore nintendo fan, so I

get games like Madden for gamecube. Year after year it seems like EA keeps

dropping games for gamecube because they don't sell as well for gamecube as

they do for other systems. An example would be the recent NCAA football 2006

game, they didn't make it for cube, I was so upset. I fear that if I want to

keep up with playing sport games, I may have to move on to another system,

which I totaly do not want to do. Any of your thoughts on this subject would

greatly be appreciated! By the way, this is my favorite part of PGC! Keep up

the great work, it keeps me coming back to your website each day!

You're a rare breed, being both a huge sports fan and a GameCube-only gamer. There's really nothing EA can do to attract more people to the GC versions of their games, as NBA Street V3 proved. The ball is in Nintendo's court, if I may use such a terrible metaphor. If Nintendo wants sports games and sports gamers on Revolution, the system has to be marketed as a sports machine right from the start. That means getting at least all the multiplatform sports games already going to the competing systems, if not some third-party exclusive sports games as well. And as I said in one of my editorials, Nintendo needs to create their own sports games to make consumers and publishers feel assured that Nintendo is truly serious about sports. Pennant Chase Baseball is a step forward, but it's not going to do GameCube any good this late.

Hey Jonathan

Since we are only a few weeks out from mario superstar baseball shipping. If nintendo was going to change its release date, wouldn't they have done it by now.

I believe when it gets with in a month of the date, the won't change it. Is that a fact or not thats what i would like to know?

wallypup

Actually, games are sometimes delayed at the last minute. It could be for marketing reasons, or maybe a bug was found at the last minute, or there may be some hold up at the factory where the discs and packaging are created.

This is a website i've had some luck with http://www.wifimaps.com/ ...Also if any of your readers want a microsoft streets and trips file that has around 1300 wifi aps I've found in the gainesville florida area, they can email me at this email address. themetalspork(at)gmail.com

Thanks for the tips!

Your wish is Google’s command:

http://www.jiwire.com/search-hotspot-locations.htm

-Luigi2

And to you too!

I just wanted to share a great site/tool I use for finding Hotspots.

I do a LOT of traveling throughout North America, and I find JWire

(www.jwire.com) to be invaluable. Im not sure about Windows, but I

know there is a downloadable JWire Database for MacOSX that keeps

current lists of Hotspots

-ech

Surely just about anyone in the U.S. can find a hotspot nearby with at least one of these applications!

Is it me or is Nintendo not advertising for Geist? I don't think I've seen one thing about it. With that is there really any hope for the game?

Geist is doomed, regardless of its quality or lack thereof. It's an M-rated first-person shooter on GameCube with no established license or even a famous developer to back it up. On top of all that, it sports fairly weak graphics in a genre whose fans are famous for being graphics whores. I hope the game turned out to be fun with all kinds of great execution of its interesting premise, but it's going to sell like coldcakes.

Paladin might want to check out the site

www.gamecritics.com

It reviews most new games that have come out (at least

eventually...) and they always have a comment on

whether or not hearing impaired people will have

troubles with the game.

I don't really like their reviews, but it should be

helpful for Paladin.

--NGBC

There you go, Paladin and anyone else with hearing trouble.

Dear mail bag

Rocking site!

So how is Killer 7 doing? I have yet to actually see any in stores wich I

find odd, though I am hoping it is because lots of people are buying it.

How come Nintendo refuses to put Eternal Darkness in its Player's choice

titles? At least put it in a critics choice box or soemthing. People must

realize the errors in their ways and play it! But whining aside. There

were rumblings of a Jet Set Radio Game for the Gamecube. Were these just

mindless ramblings or were there/ are there plans to bring this most

excellent franchise to the fabled land? And please harass Capcom to port

Okami over to the cube. Its only fair after the whole RE4 thing.

NIN4EVA,

ElMonoPicante

See the above answer about Geist. Killer 7's chances are no better, really. As for Jet Set Radio on GameCube, never heard of such, not even rumors. Okami seems like it would be a great fit for the GC, doesn't it? Hopefully port-happy Capcom thinks so too and will give us a later version. They haven't said anything yet, though.

Hi,

do you know if the upcoming in USA (and well-received in Japan)

Chibo Robo will even come out in PALand?!

I'm Italian and I would like to play that game, more than other like

Geist or Pokemon XD...

Could you answer me?!

Thanks.

There's no mention of it at NOE's website, but they might be waiting to see how it does in America.

Has PGC ever considered adding a forum folder for

trading/loaning/selling of used games? It can be

really difficult to find used games for a decent price

and even if you can piracy is such a huge problem

(especially for GBA games) that its often not worth

the risk.

You'd have to add a blurb about how PGC accepts no

responsibility for getting ripped off and participate

in the forum at your own risk, yadda yadda.

We've built such a tight-knit community in the forums

that I think the idea could really take off. I think

most of the regulars would feel safe enough trading

with each other to make it a worthwhile addition to

the forum.

Thanks,

vudu

I'll discuss it with the forum mods and see what they think.

Hey guys. I love the daily mailbag. In a few days, you have already answered

a bunch of questions I have been wondering about.

Anyhoo, I have been gamin' for over 15 years now, and as noobish as it makes

me feel to say it, I have yet to try online gaming of any kind. Being the

avid Nintendork that I am, I only have a Gamecube, and I never saw it

necessary to trick out 'cube with online capabilities. With the revolution

on its way, and my favorite game (ssb) going online, I know I'm gunna have

to go down that road soon. So, my question is, where can I go to get answers

to all my questions about online video games on consoles? What will I need

to get it up and running? Will I need to buy additional software/hardware?

How much will it cost? Will I need to pay monthly?

These are all good questions, but some of them are hard to answer until Nintendo tells us more about how the service really works. We know that the service itself will be free (at least for Nintendo's first-party games). As for extra hardware, there are plenty of places online that could fill you in on what's normally required, but that information may not be applicable to Nintendo's service. So, I suggest you sit tight and wait for Nintendo to say more about WiFi Connection.

Online multiplayer for the Revolution classic games

has been mentioned a few times in the mailbag, but

every time you said it would be too much work to

recode the games to support online multiplayer. I

agree, it would be. The solution is to do it the same

way ZSNES (and probably other emulators) do netplay:

the emulator provides the online multiplayer, not the

game.

This poses a difficulty that anyone who has used

netplay will be familiar with: lag. Basically, the

game has to be synced between the two systems (ZSNES

netplay only supports two player) and then the only

thing to send is what his been pressed on the

controller. With a good connection, this can be quite

playable, even with fast paced games (i.e.,

Tetris-like), but since the client has to be sure to

not get ahead of the server, it sometimes lags waiting

for timing information from the server.

It is possible that since Nintendo controls the

hardware, and therefore they can be sure the hardware

is identical (i.e., emulating at exactly the same

speed), that a similar method could be made to work

quite well for the Revolution classic games. Then

again, Nintendo may decide they are unable to get this

method to result in sufficiently low of lag and not do

it.

- AnyoneEB

Great analysis. If Nintendo is serious about adding online to old games, doing at the emulator level is probably the simplest and most far-reaching way. But they'd have to check for compatibility with every game, and it might be hard for them to implement fancy interface features like friend matching and voice chat.

Hey PGC!

Long time reader (from the beginning of PlanetN2000

actually...), first time e-mailer. I was wondering

what you guys thought of a potential online mode for

New Super Mario Bros.? Do you think that we could get

online co-op or is that out of the question? Also,

when do you think we'll get more info on the game?

GameStop and a few others have it listed as November,

but it seems like we aren't getting any definitive

info.

This is more of a comment than a question, but why

doesn't NST use the federation troops in Metroid

Hunters instead of using Samus? A Metroid spin-off

would be great for a traditional FPS and could

theoretically make just as much money. It wouldn't

offend Metroid fans and it could bring more people to

the franchise.

Anyway, keep up the good job guys!

If Nintendo's online service is lag-free enough to do fast-paced co-op modes, then the New Super Mario Bros. would be a great fit for such a feature. But I can tell you that the game is almost certainly not coming out in 2005.

Hi again PGC,

If you remember, I sent in a email a while back about with concerns if

Super Princess Peach was going to make it through production or get

the mighty N axe. It seems that "The Magic Box" found some info...

- Nintendo will release the NDS action game Super Princess Peach in

Japan on October 20.

I understand its common practice for some gaming news sites post

things that end up to be rumors or misleading information, so out of

curiosity... do you think that they got this info off of the Japanese

Nintendo press site or from an 'unknown source'? Well, I just wanted

to check to see if you have the same information or not. If it does

come out that soon.....I know what Ill be importing from Lik-Sang.

::big smile::

Thanks,

Spike-o

I found a game for that date listed at NCL's release schedule, but I was having trouble translating it through Babelfish. So I got my friend Chris Kohler to confirm that it is indeed Super Princess Peach. Can an English version be far behind?

Hey Thatbag,

I was just wondering about the news that the PS3 might be pushed back into 2007 if the 360 does horribly... do you think the Revolution would be pushed back also? After all Iwata said he was trying to release it sometime after the PS3 was released (probably because Sony will attempt to copy them). I don't want Nintendo to be postponed but I don't want Sony to copy their new idea either...

-Thatguy

I think Nintendo still wants to launch as close to PS3 as possible...but I also think the chances of PS3 slipping to 2007 are very slim.

Question for yoo! Excluding Kuju, does Nintendo have any British

owned/developed projects or development houses?

Fusionblue.

Fuse is located in England. They developed Mario Pinball Land and are now working on Metroid Prime Pinball, which was one of my favorite DS games at E3. Don't forget that Rare is still porting the Donkey Kong Country games to GBA for Nintendo (although DKC3 has actually been finished for quite a while, it's just still unreleased in N. America).

I seem to remember the former president of Nintendo establishing a

fund to help small developers make their brilliant ideas a reality, to

find the "next Pokemon." What happened with that? Are we playing games

that are a result of that fund or did it go nowhere?

Someone mentioned the possibility of new games developed for the NES,

SNES emulators for Revolution. This was one of the first things that

jumped to mind when I heard the announcement. I think it is pretty

likely. Maybe not necessarily new NES games, but games with simple

graphics and gameplay mechanics that can be downloaded. They would be

comparatively cheap to develop and their wouldn't be any need for

expensive distribution. Seems like a money maker to me. Either way I

can't wait to play classic games again, or games that I didn't get to

play before.

The Fund Q established by Hiroshi Yamauchi has probably helped several games get off the ground, although I don't know which ones benefited from that money. The main beneficiary is Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles; the so-called Game Designers Studio is a shadow company staffed by Square Enix employees and established with money from Fund Q.

Big fan of your frequent mailbags. I have a quick question for you regarding a somewhat unique WiFi situation.

I am not allowed to have a wireless router in my dorm room on campus (yes, it's a shame), so I was wondering if you could propose other alternatives to getting my DS online? For the record, we are provided with a land-based T1 connection in our rooms. Are there possible setups that I could use to "share" a connection through my laptop with a wifi card, or something else? Also, I have a feeling using the campus WiFi would not work because it requires a login/password to activate. Just curious if you have any solutions for me or if I will have to be devious and step around the school policy. I'm so hooked on Mario Kart that I definitely would do so.

Thanks a bunch, Greg

Your best bet is probably to get out into the world and find open access hotspots away from your dorm.

Considering that the classics library will be available for download

on Revolution is there chance that we might be able to do that with

the DS? Classic goodness to go please.

The problem there is that the DS might have trouble running the SNES and especially the N64 emulators being used with Revolution. Nintendo could certainly allow the Revolution to broadcast games over to the DS's memory (or onto a special cartridge made just for this purpose), but it could probably only be done with a portion of the games Revolution is capable of playing.

Once in a while when you answer questions in the mailbag you seem to have access to sales information about exactly how much a game sells. What I'm asking is that were do you get it from, is their a web site or is that just info you get for having a web site about video games?

p.s. I know you probably hear it all the time but I love the daily mailbag.

Good question. I get sales data from a number of places, but there's no one-stop place to get whatever data you want. For U.S. data, the best source is NPD's monthly reports. But that data is only legally available if you purchase the right to publish it from NPD, and even then, there are limitations on how you can present the data. (For instance, you can't just copy the entire report.) So most of my U.S. sales observations come from gaming forums, where clever people have ways of consistently getting the NPD data even without a license. If you've ever wondered why PGC doesn't do monthly sales reports, that's why. It's incredibly expensive to obtain the rights on that data. And NPD doesn't even include some major U.S. retailers, so the numbers are always somewhat suspect anyway. For Japanese sales data, daily and weekly numbers from Media Create and Famitsu are relatively easy to find on Japanese websites and various gaming forums, and The Magic Box has some nice lists of all-time best sellers compiled from years of Famitsu reports.

Hey, just a simple question. I'm a huge Fire Emblem fan, and I'm really looking forward to the gamecube version. I was just wondering, in a preview from E3 on the game, it was said that the dialogue was "pretty corny". After playing both of the GBA Fire Emblem games many times through, I found the dialogue to be very well written. Was the corny dialogue a result of the translation not being completed, or is it going to remain "corny" in the final version? I'm just concerned because the dialogue was good in the GBA version and I want them to keep it that way for the gamecube.

- Matt -

I'm sure that was just the quick-and-dirty pre-E3 translation. NOA is fully aware of the serious fantasy appeal of the Fire Emblem series, and they wouldn't mess with that now that the series is finally coming to GameCube.

hey bag,

my question is about mario kart see i love the series but, i feel like i'm cheated out of my fifty dollars when i buy them. what i mean by that is why is it so short? double dash had three courses with four races each and three opitions of 50cc,100cc and 150cc you could complete all this in like three to four hours. then they have the multiplayer which is alright. the level design is good but, it doesn't seem that hard to make so why not make 8 courses with four races each? that would be 32 races plus the multiplayer and on the rev the online racing that would actually make me feel like my money was worth it? any opinions on this?

You're in luck: Mario Kart DS has the most tracks of any game in the series. AND it has online racing.

Have you heard about Tecmo's new DS game? I think this game looks too hot for children. But good for older players like you and I. Tecmo finally's tell the older audience that Touching IS good. Check it out on this link http://www.tecmo.co.jp/product/raku_ds/ whats your opinion.

P.S. This site is great

Serlis of Grandbell

Yeah, I saw this site earlier today. We'll throw up a game profile for it soon. It seems weird, but this is hardly new territory for Tecmo. Remember, they did DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball for Xbox, which is more about bikinis and innuendo than volleyball.

Hey Bag,

Nintendo stated that their Revolution controlers would be wireless.... Do

you think they are going to be rechargable? After all, I mean, if they

weren't you could go through a whole lotta copper tops. Also do you think

the Legend of Zelda: T. P. will be on two disks or one?

Thanks for answering my lame questions!

Dru

Yeah, Revolution's controllers will have to be rechargeable to keep up with the ones for PS3 and Xbox 360. Twilight Princess will probably be on just one disc.

Hey mailbag,

I was wondering if by any chance you guys happened to

give Dream Mix TV World Fighters a whirl. It seemed

somewhat amusing but I wasn't really sure if it was

worth the $50 it costs to import. If you could post a

quick number rating or a short little pros and cons it

would be greatly appreciated. You guys are usually

right on the money with your reviews and I trust your

expert opinions. On another note, do you happen to

know whether or not Katamari Damacy was officially

announced for the DS? I hope so because the DS touch

screens seem like a perfect control for such a game.

By the way, Daily mail bag is sweet and you guys have

the best Nintendo resource on the net. Thanks!

Mr. Jack

Your wish is granted! Seriously, Dream Mix is loads of fun with four players. As for Katamari DS, it was announced in Nintendo Power, but Namco has never said a word about it. I hope it's still coming!

I asked for lots of good questions today, and you delivered! Keep it coming this weekend, por favor!