Nintendo Voice Chat podcast summary

DSi price + date (US)

– $169.99
– April 5
– Was close to Matt’s prediction
– Craig thought it would be $149, Matt said it would be $179
– Was going to be $179 but Nintendo decided to change it
– Bozon thinks it might have been helpful that the price got out there and then people freaked out
– Recap: Has 2 built-in cameras, built-in memory, SD card slot to save photos + AAC files
– Craig thinks it’s a cool system
– $40 more than the DS Lite – Daemon thinks that’s reasonable
– You are losing out on the GBA port + DS games that use the slot
– Red Octane won’t miss the boat on DSi – Craig believes they’re working on peripheral for Guitar Hero franchise on DSi
– Probably won’t make it so you can play the ones that already came out on the DSi
– Should upgrade if you have the first DS
– Bozon loves the d-pad on the DSi
– There are cool little things on the DSi like the ability to swap cartridges, if you hold down the select button and hold up or down you can adjust the brightness within a game
– Can update firmware
– Will have to deal with the mini-fridge problem like the Wii
– For the most part Craig thinks the DSi is a good step up but it’s not mindblowing
– Matt says it’s worth it
– No differences between Japanese + NA DSi systems
– No white color for launch
– Matt wishes there was white
– Craig surprised that Nintendo is offering two colors
– Bozon loves the black DSi but there are scuff marks
– Interface is much slicker
– Haven’t announced any DSiWare games for NA – will probably be more announcements from Iwata at GDC
– Last week Craig was shown the Japanese version of Wario Ware + one of the Art Style games

Rhythm Heaven

– Coming out on April 5
– Version Craig was shown had some of the music changed
– Music is the same but lyrics now in English
– Tap/stroke screen to beat of the song
– A lot of fun, visuals stylish
– Has a lot of personality
– Already sold a million in Japan

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

– Remake of the original Fire Emblem game that wasn’t released in NA
– Same game with updated visuals + modern features + extra prologue chapters
– Turn-based strategy game
– Nintendo trying to ease new players into it
– Still a very deep and challenging game
– Has online play with voice chat
– Can only take 5 units into online battle
– Daemon thought the game was great
– Bozon wishes it had sprite art

Mario & Luigi 3

– Visuals the same as previous 2 titles
– Hard to figure out what’s going on because it’s in Japanese
– Craig really digs the concept
– Bowser sucks up all of the characters, Mario and Luigi inside Bowser
– Wander around and wake Bowser up, then can control Bowser on the top screen
– There is a tutorial but it’s easy to follow
– You can figure it out if you buy the Japanese version but you won’t get the humor
– Craig guesses a May release for NA – Thinks the game is localized already
– Bozon would pay $100 for Soma Bringer in English
– Game is original

Suikoden DS

– Bozon really likes it
– Wishes he could turn VO off
– Has more voice work than any other DS game Bozon has played on DS
– Has a ton of random battles
– Daemon not a fan of random battles but he’s looking forward to the game
– It’s a lot of fun, Bozon still needs to play more of it
– Some sidequests really short
– Promising game that readers don’t seem to care about

Dead Space Extraction

– A little different from many were expecting
– It’s on-rails
– Will play like House of the Dead: Overkill (House of the Dead Space)
– Developed by Eurocom and EA
– Matt a big fan of Eurocom – have worked on NightFire, Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
– Footage looked pretty good
– Someone watched it in the office and thought it was a Dead Space 2 trailer
– Matt thinks they’ve made a competent engine, character models look good overall
– Starts the storyline from first game
– A lot of people complaining about it being on-rails – might be trying to avoid comparison to 360
– Matt thinks it’ll be the best shooter on Wii when it arrives
– Daemon generally doesn’t like on-rail shooters – House of the Dead was an exception
– Want to make sound and story a big deal
– Coming out this year – Fall or Autumn game
– Matt would rather have an on-rail shooter Dead Space than no Dead Space on Wii
– Game’s producer said the game will have flying enemies
– Has been in development for a long time – more than a year already
– The game hurts just Wii-only owners

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop

– Not all that excited, but when Daemon played it he found gameplay from 360 version still there
– Doesn’t look that great
– Not as many zombies as 360 version
– While you’re running, zombies just pop up out of nowhere
– Zombies stand around sometimes
– Now have multiple save slots
– Can’t take photos of zombies – weird gaming mechanic to remove
– Not as satisfying to tear zombies apart – blood not rendered as believably
– Would be better if it was an on-rails shooter (joke)
– More moderately priced as $40
– Some weapons have waggle control

– PR guy wants to show them a sweet new game (not necessarily Capcom-related)

Life Force

– One of Daemon’s favorite shooters
– Spiritual sequel to Gradius
– Level design was awesome
– Awesome boss fights

Evasive Space

– High Voltage cranking out WiiWare games
– Better than the racing game
– Yukes publishing it
– Not a bad game
– Not a shooter
– About not running into things
– All infrared-based controls – ship flies to reticule – control feels lose
– Execution isn’t so good
– Never really know where you’re supposed to go
– Some people will like it
– There are online leaderboards, offline multiplayer mode
– Animales de la Muerte will be a retail game
– High Voltage probably has a little team working on WiiWare games

Onechanbara

– Totally average game
– Succeeds at being a guilty pleasure
– Bozon wishes motion wasn’t used for attacks
– Translation lazily done
– Don’t explain features
– Game fine for what it is
– Wii game getting average scores, 360 game getting terrible scores (they are different games)

Phantom Brave

– Officially being ported to the Wii
– Came out on PS2
– Adding new features, updating the graphics
– Coming out in June
– Can move units around freely within a circle

Knights in the Knightmare

– Atlus announced they’re bringing it over
– Bozon can’t wait
– Atlus going crazy about bringing games to the US

– Valkyrie Profile preview coming soon

MadWorld

– Have been playing it at a fair pace
– Definitely longer than 3 hours – About 5 hours in so far
– Matt loving it
– Everyone in the office who sees it does a double take
– Artistic and way gory
– Game gets pretty tough
– There are some major boss fights in the game that are challenging
– Matt recently beat a boss with a sliver of life left
– Great beat-em-up
– Game of the year contender
– Matt more excited about playing MadWorld than Resident Evil 5
– Publishers are absolutely watching this game
– If the game bombs, gamers are in trouble
– Matt will hate you if you can afford to buy the game and you rent it instead
– A sequel is possible if it sells well – sequels not always possible, even if it does sell well

Reader questions

– Should spend money to upgrade to DSi if you have original DS
– Will be doing full reviews for New Play Control games
– Retro Studios won’t enhance multiplayer for NPC! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
– Day and night cycles longer in Rune Factory Frontier than Harvest Moon 64 + have more energy
– Editors at IGN can tell what a 60 FPS game is by looking at it – just takes experience
– Kirby Wii still showing up on release lists
– Nintendo will never remove friend codes but third parties will
– Bully like GTA without all of the language + sexual content