Ultimate Nintendo Mailbag: Volume 2

Nintendo Now editor Connor Graham is filling in for Editor-in-Chief David Gornoski in today's mailbag.

Metroid Lite

The reason I haven't purchased a DS yet is because I've been waiting for Metroid Prime: Hunters and the redesigned system.  Do you think the DS Lite will be released here in America before or around the release of Metroid?

-MArkeu@comcast.net

Connor Graham: Unfortunately, probably not. I was even a bit surprised when they announced that the Japanese release date was so soon—it was only revealed just over a month before its release—and a Nintendo of Europe executive was quoted only the day before saying that a redesign was unlikely, so my suspicion is that, for whatever reason, Nintendo Japan had been keeping this hidden from NOA and NOE. Thus, although they were quick to rebound and confirm that it would be available in those territories later this spring, it seems unlikely that they’ll have any official release plans within the one month remaining till Metroid’s release.

Twilight Princess

OK...so there are rumors floating around about the Twilight Princess release date. Best Buy botched that email, and we haven't heard anything (official) about it for a long time. I believe the last word from Nintendo was "sometime after March." Is this still the only thing we have to go on? Seems a little broad for a game that was supposed to be out 3 months ago. Just wondering if I have missed some news or what....Thanks a lot.

-aaron@udayton.edu

Connor Graham: More bad news. Reggie just the other day confirmed that it would be coming out this fall. Yes, that means it will have been delayed an entire year. But at this point, Nintendo couldn’t not include Revolution extras. After all, they never truly denied those rumors. And we all know they want this to be a great game, but unless all the developers have been spending all this time playing Mario Kart, there’s no way it should take this long. I’d say you have two options: go into cryo-stasis for the next six months, or just sit back on a wave of new DS releases and Revolution news and wait for the inevitable best game of this generation.

Projectors

Will the Nintendo Revolution remote work on projector screens?

-chrisbeeken@shaw.ca

Connor Graham: Yes. The Revolution controller will work properly with all TVs regardless of shape, size, type, brand, age, or anything else. In fact, the Revmote will even work with no TV, because it doesn’t react with the TV. Unlike a traditional light gun, the controller doesn’t “see” the TV; the Revolution console, using sensors attached next to the TV “sees” the controller.

Mario’s Future

Hi, love the site, I've been coming here for over a year and love your stories. Especially all the Japanese figures, how I love watching the DS annihilate the PSP… I do indeed.

Anyway... please excuse my fanboyism for a moment whilst I reflect upon what I've been thinking about regarding the future of Mario.

I've recently been playing Mario games in anticipation of Mario on the Revolution, playing Super Mario World, 64, etc, all the different incarnations, and let me tell you it was a enlightening experience. Maybe it’s all those years of experience that have given me a fresh perspective, or maybe I'm just a little out of sorts today but I've just had an epiphany.

Mario doesn’t need anything from his older games. He doesn’t need his ridiculous hat, his shrooms or his F.L.U.D.D., what he needs is a real motive, a real story.

Now I know this will sound a little far out but jus bear with me, and use your imagination to envision the best scenario.

This is how I imagine a Mario Revolution game to pan out: at the start you are on your own trying to infiltrate Bowser's castle, avoiding shells, arrows, fireballs, jumping everywhere almost impossibly but with ease because of the spectacular control system. It has a semi-serious tone, like beyond good and evil.
When inside the castle you make your way to the top, imagine the Bowser stages in Mario 64 where you had to make your way to fight Bowser but in a castle like in ocarina of time.

The entire game has a more mature look, almost melancholic but true to the core aesthetic. Mario has a much more emphatic personality and look, take a look at the artwork for Super Mario Strikers and you'll be on the right track.

Mario reaches the top of the tower and Bowser is there, he has peach trapped in a cage over some lava like in Indiana Jones, and Luigi on a platform, beneath him 1000 ft of nothingness. In the background are Bowser's minions chanting.

Mario is broken but determined, he doesn't know how yet, but he will save them. Bowser steps forward menacingly, we are shocked to hear him talk properly for the first time in the entire series. He mocks Mario, plays with his emotions, tells him that in order to save his friends his will have to enter his world and play his sadistic game. Mario must then find ways to escape various worlds, each situated inside the castle.

Mario refuses, and defiantly orders Bowser to let his friends go or he will live to regret it. But before he can do anything he drops Mario through a trap door into a new world.

Each world has its own task, puzzles, challenges and bosses which Mario must complete to escape. Each world leads to another, opening up various routes and possibilities for exploration. This world is huge, filled with mythical creatures and huge scale architecture that begs to be explored and conquered by Mario.

All this would be possible by the wonderfully intuitive control scheme, the graphics would be a far cry from the simplistic nature of its predecessors, in a sense they would be quite realistic with a striking edge, but at the same time still retaining those doll-like qualities that makes the series so charming. The worlds each have their own themes that are an extension or evolution of worlds from previous Mario games.

This is how I imagine a Mario game going, growing up but still staying to its roots, ultimately a Revolution in the series.

P.S.: Sorry it was so long, but please display this letter. I've never had a letter displayed on a site before :(

-cookiecookerx@hotmail.com

Connor Graham: That was indeed long. And now you have. Anyways, I’m afraid I don’t have much to say to that. Would it make a great game? Very possibly. Will it happen? My Magic 8-ball says “No.” I’m afraid Nintendo simply won’t do that. Period. It might make for a great new franchise, but Mario has always been, and will always continue to be the plump plumber with a thing for shrooms. What you failed to realize is that, no matter how “mature” the story is, jumping on platforms and jumping on enemies will never be mature, and if you lose that, you lose everything that is Mario.

Game Boy

When will we find anything more about the next Game Boy?  I heard that it will have better graphics than the Sega Dreamcast (and PSP), Even though the gameplay is still better!

-Aaron.Silverlight@gmail.com

Connor Graham: This is a bit of a conundrum that I’ve puzzled over myself. Back when the DS announced, Nintendo said that the DS was not the successor to the GBA, and that a new, traditional Game Boy would be released later. Now here we are, later, and Nintendo has clearly shown us, both with DS and Revolution, that they plan on changing the way games are played, meaning that a traditional Game Boy, with one screen and buttons, is pretty much out of the question. But, anything else (like a second- or touch-screen) and it wouldn’t really be a Game Boy anymore. I’m going to look at this a little pessimistically and say that if Nintendo does release a new handheld, it will probably not be a traditional Game Boy, and as such, would not carry the Game Boy name. On the other hand, the Game Boy line is possibly one of the most widely-recognized videogame product lines ever created, and it’s a huge cash cow for Nintendo. Simply dropping it would not make much sense, financially. I suppose only time will tell.

Portable Media

Does the GBA/DS have a media player separately available outside of ‘Nihon’???

-repsorp_elyk@hotmail.com

Connor Graham: There are a few different answers to that question. Firstly, the Play-Yan is the only official media player, but as you mentioned, it’s only available in Japan. However, Reggie has said numerous times that he wants to bring it stateside, so it’s probably only a matter of time. You can, however, get media players in English, but they’re not licensed or supported by Nintendo. The GBA Movie Player, available at Lik-Sang.com plays movies, music, and more from a compact flash card, but when using it on the DS, the screen is cropped to GBA-size. Another option is the M3 adapter, which is also compatible with the DS, but costs $90 and is very difficult to find to buy. I won’t go into them too much here, but if you ask in our forums I’m sure you’ll be able to get more information. Now, because I always think and type at the same time, I’ve got one more thing to say regarding the Play-Yan. Nintendo re-released the Play-Yan in Japan when the GB micro was released with some minor updates. With the recent discovery that the DS Lite will have a smaller GBA cartridge slot than the original DS, I think it’s entirely possible that… well, I’m sure you know where I’m going with this.