VBlank continues to remind us that the WiiWare version of Retro City Rampage is on the way. Here’s a photo of the Wii Menu screen:
This past console cycle has been abnormally long. For Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot, he hopes the transition for the next round of systems will be shorter.
“I think that what has happened is the transition has been very long. You know, in the industry, we were used to changing machines every five years. This time we are in the seventh year of the 360. We need new consoles and at the end of the cycle generally the market goes down because there are less new IPs, new properties, so that damaged the industry a little bit. I hope next time they will come more often.”
Specifically, Guillemot said, many publishers and developers use the transition to a new console as an opportunity to “reinvent” themselves.
Guillemot believes new consoles bring about innovation. He also fessl that it leads to more risk and new IPs.
“Transitions are the best times, are the best ways, to make all of our creators take more risks and do different things. When a console is out for a long time … you don’t take as much risks on totally new IPs because even if they are good, they don’t sell as well. Everybody who is taking risks and innovating is welcome because there are lots of hardcore gamers and those guys want new things, where the mass market will be more interested in having the same experience and doesn’t want to take as much risks because it’s not aware as much of what is going to change its experience. So, the beginning of the machines is always a good time for innovation.”
TimeSplitters 4 was officially revealed in 2007. A year later, developer Free Radical Design went into administration.
Speaking with GamesTM (#128), former employee Steve Ellis told the magazine that the game “was in the very early stages of development” at the time. Unfortunately, publishers weren’t too interested in the project.
“TimeSplitters 4 was in the very early stages of development when Free Radical went into administration. A small playable demo was shown to several publishers, but it didn’t attract any publishing deals.”
Another former staffer and current Crytek UK managing director, Karl Hilton, also spoke with the magazine regarding the lack of interest for TimeSplitters 4. At the time, publishers had been skeptical due to the reception of Haze and concerns about how the title will be sold.
Hilton said publishers relayed the message “that you can’t market a game that is based around a diverse set of characters and environments – you need a clear and easily communicated marketing message, and TimeSplitters doesn’t have one.”
“We pitched it to a lot of publishers, and from each of them we got the same two responses. Firstly, they would ask what happened with Haze. We were the company that made a series of high-rated shooters and then we had released Haze, which wasn’t as well received. This worried them. Secondly, their marketing person would say something alone the lines of, ‘I don’t know how to sell this.’ The unanimous opinion among all publishers that we pitched TimeSplitters 4 to is that you can’t market a game that is based around a diverse set of characters and environments – you need a clear and easily communicated marketing message, and TimeSplitters doesn’t have one. Perhaps they are all right. Perhaps this is why the previous games in the series achieved much more critical success than commercial success. For these reasons, one by one they all declined to sign the project.”
Thanks to joclo for the tip.
To register a child on Wii U’s Nintendo Network, you have to fork over a $0.50. Hoping to receive some clarification as to why this fee is necessary, a console owner sent in a message to Nintendo’s customer support.
According to a representative, the free is in place “so that parents have the chance to see the payment on their credit card statement, and to alert Nintendo if consent was improperly provided.” The rep also reconfirmed that the $0.50 charge is a one-time payment. Registering additional minors won’t cost you anything.
“…I can certainly understand your concerns regarding the $0.50 charge applied to verify a minor’s account through the Nintendo Network. I can tell you that this is a one-time fee to verify that a parent or guardian has provided consent. This one-time payment is a commonly used and accepted parental control method required so that parents have the chance to see the payment on their credit card statement, and to alert Nintendo if consent was improperly provided. It may be worth noting that if you have any other children who wish to create an account, once the first child’s account has been set up you will not be charged again. Your parental control PIN is all that is required to set up additional child accounts.”
So here’s something unfortunate I came across while struggling to figure out why me and Jack couldn’t play Black Ops 2 splitscreen between the TV and Gamepad online: The game won’t let you use that feature unless you have an HDTV! I’m sure it has more to do with the aspect ratio (16:9 vs 4:3) than it does the fact that the TV is high definition, but it’s not good to hear nonetheless.
For clarification, I played GPTV (new acronym: Gamepad/TV) splitscreen a couple of nights ago just fine on a 16:9 screen. Tried today on a 4:3 screen and it didn’t work. Brought down my 16:9 TV, tried it again, and it worked. I’d rather not have to switch back and forth just because I want to use one of the key features of the Wii U version!
The Wii may be getting another, smaller redesign. Rumor has it that a “major retailer” is listing the Wii mini console in its internal release schedule.
Assuming this is true, the updated system would release on December 7 – that’s in two weeks.
Introducing the Wii Mini! Coming Dec 7 2012!
WII MINI CONSOLE
Compact Nintendo Wii Console
Comes with Sensor Bar, Nunchuk and Wii Remote Plus with Jacket.
Numerous UK retailers are reporting Wii U sell-outs at their shops a week before the console hits the territory.
Pre-orders have been high, which doesn’t leave much inventory for remaining stock. MCV writes that “some retailers have told us their already taken orders against future Wii U shipments.”
HMV may be the one bright spot in terms of available inventory. The retailer apparently obtained some extra stock for its midnight launch.
