General Nintendo sales/business discussion topic (previously: The Wii U Thread)

[SuperLink]

October? Wow, if its true that's pretty early. I sure hope they don't rush it!

I would assume they've been developing it for a really long time already, Nintendo are doing an increasing amount of "announce the game when it's kinda almost done already".

 

Except with Smash Bros.

[Autosaver]

All of you STFU for a moment.

http://nintendoeverything.com/120801/eternal-darkness-spiritual-successor-shadows-of-the-eternals-to-be-revealed-on-monday-platforms-unconfirmed/

 

An "Eternal Darkness 2" (yeah I know.. it's not a sequel but it's something!!) is going to be revealed soon. There's a trailer included and maybe just maybe this will hit Wii U?

Edited May 3, 2013 by Autosaver

[SuperLink]

It's crowdfunded, so I'm guessing the platforms would only be ones they could really afford.

 

Surely it'd start out with Steam and have WiiU as a possible stretch goal? It sounds like a big project so I'm not sure it'll be successful.

[Patticus]

If Nintendo does a £199 Wii U Premium + Mario Kart bundle in time for Christmas later this year, while it might result in many fewer copies of the game being sold independently, it would be able to significantly boost its hardware sales, which I think is a lot more important.

I would assume they've been developing it for a really long time already, Nintendo are doing an increasing amount of "announce the game when it's kinda almost done already".

EAD will have been working on it since Galaxy 2, so you're probably looking at around three years of development time.

[Autosaver]

RUMOR + CONFIRMATION TIME - PC AND WII U WOOOOOOT

 

Rumor - Shadow of the Eternals Details

- coming to Wii U (and PC) in Q3 2014
- this is as long as crowdfunding comes thorugh
- Precursor Games is a company formed after the death of Silicon Knights
- game will be episodic
- current goal is to make a season of 12 playable episodes
- each will focus on at least one playable character
- roughly two-to-four hours of gameplay in each episode
- will bring back the combat, magick, and sanity event mechanics from Eternal Darkness
- funding goal is $1.1 million
- Kickstarter will not be used
- donate to become a member of the “Order of the Unseen”
- get access to the development forums and interact with the team
- other rewards include copies of episodes of the game, posters, Skype calls with a developer, and creating your own sanity effect
- story follows detective Paul Becker as he investigates a brutal massacre in Louisiana that left two cults decimated
- Becker ends up learning of the Eternals
- follows a similar path as Eternal Darknes
- jump between different characters across 2,500 years of history
- regions ranging from the United States and England to Egypt and Hungary

 

Cached website reveals details

When Detective Paul Becker is called to one of the bloodiest gang massacres in Louisiana state history, only two survivors remain from a brutal conflict between two rival cults. As Becker begins his interrogations of the suspects, their combined recollections will uncover the truth about the ‘Ancients’.

Shadow of the Ancients is a sequel to the critically acclaimed Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Reqiuem. Featuring an ensemble cast of heroes and villains, the game will span over 2500 years of history throughout Egypt, England, Hungary, and the United States. Players will question the perception of reality as they try to balance the mechanics of combat, magick, and sanity events to progress through the adventure.

Shadow of the Ancients will take players on a memorable journey throughout time; weaving historical fact with disturbing fiction to create an experience unlike any other.

-----------

How long is each episode?
Each episode will be approximately 2-4 hours of gameplay.

When do you plan to release?
Q3 2014.

What platforms will Shadow of the Ancients be on?
We will be focusing on the PC and Wii U platforms. Other platforms may be added in the future.

Why no Kickstarter Campaign?
We would love to do a Kickstarter, but currently Kickstarter is only open to companies that are in the US or UK. We hope that we can work with Kickstarter in the future to make this option a reality.

However, by integrating the community into the development of the game, we can centralize our site with our crowdfunding system to manage this properly. Upon pledging on our site, you will be granted a Forum Ribbon to our Official Development Forums, where you can share your ideas and feedback about the creation of the game. It does not matter whether you sign up for the forums before, or after pledging – our database will recognize you.

-----------

Shadow of the Ancients will be an episodic series, and to complete the first episode and continue production on future episodes, we need approximately 1.1 million dollars. Any money raised beyond this will contribute to future episodes, additional characters, in-game perks, and additional platforms. The more money that we raise, the more we will deliver based on what our fans want.

-----------

BOUND SUPPORTER LE ($50) includes the following: Everything from Sane Supporter; Shadow of the Ancients Season 1 (Episode 1-12, two free episodes); Access to ‘Edward’s Secret Study’.

Receive the entire first season of Shadow of the Ancients (twelve episodes). Each episode features at least one playable character, access to a variety of new play mechanics, historically accurate weapons, locations and new magick.

 

http://www.gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=201817&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

Edited May 3, 2013 by Autosaver

[Candescence]

*Eternal Darkness spiritual successor*

Sillicon Knights is all but dead, and Dennis Dylack has let power go straight to his head and turned out to be a complete hack. All the original talent that made Eternal Darkness great (along with Nintendo's strict supervision) is all but gone, and that studio has been pumping out nothing but crap since they parted ways with Nintendo.

 

I can't see this going well at all.

[Carbo]

Dennis Dyack and crowdfunding? Hahahaha. Nope.

The only reason Eternal Darkness wasn't a complete wreck like most other Silicon Knights games is because it was being heavily supervised by Miyamoto. If any company exemplified the "Nintendo curse", Silicon Knights is an embodiment of that mentality perhaps more so than Rare.

[PSI Wind]

I think he forgot that Eternal Darkness and it's characters/gameplay mechanics are owned by Nintendo.......

[Carbo]

I think he forgot that Eternal Darkness and it's characters/gameplay mechanics are owned by Nintendo.......

It's more of a spiritual successor, not a sequel. Cached website be damned. It's like saying Platinum can't make Bayonetta because Capcom owns Devil May Cry.

[PSI Wind]

It's a spiritual successor, not a sequel. It's like saying Platinum can't make Bayonetta because Capcom owns Devil May Cry.

Except it's still apparently using the Sanity mechanic.

[Patticus]

Except it's still apparently using the Sanity mechanic.

I'm sure there are ways to do that without incurring any legal wrath. It's not as if SK has the sole rights to in-game sanity.

[Candescence]

Not that you can copyright game mechanics anyway. I genuinely don't get why people make this mistake, you can't copyright an idea. If game mechanics suddenly became patentable or be able to be covered under copyright, the copyright and patent systems would be clearly broken (granted, they already are, but still).

 

But, really, Sillicon Knights, even in name only, is a pale shadow of its former self, run by a man who has long gone mad with power. This new project isn't worthy of hype.

[SuperLink]

Not that you can copyright game mechanics anyway. I genuinely don't get why people make this mistake, you can't copyright an idea. If game mechanics suddenly became patentable or be able to be covered under copyright, the copyright and patent systems would be clearly broken (granted, they already are, but still).

Unfortunately.. they are patentable.

 

Remember that one time SEGA sued Level-5.

 

Still, I doubt the sanity thing in ED was patented.

[Candescence]

Unfortunately.. they are patentable.

 

Remember that one time SEGA sued Level-5.

 

Still, I doubt the sanity thing in ED was patented.

Mind you, that's in Japan, and we don't know how that case is going. In any other country, though, they'd be completely laughed out of the courtroom.

[Autosaver]

Actually, I'm pretty sure Sanity IS patented. That's why every time someone asks for a sequel, people respond it can't happen without Nintendo. Even if they do make a spiritual one, there is no way they can use the sanity meter thus messing with the game mechanics.

[Candescence]

Actually, I'm pretty sure Sanity IS patented. That's why every time someone asks for a sequel, people respond it can't happen without Nintendo. Even if they do make a spiritual one, there is no way they can use the sanity meter thus messing with the game mechanics.

No, it's not the game mechanics, you just can't do a proper sequel without Nintendo because they own the Eternal Darkness IP. Sanity meters have been done in other games, if not as well-implemented.

Edited May 3, 2013 by Shirou Emiya

[Autosaver]

Well duh. Everyone knows they can't do a proper without Nintendo. This is why I said spiritual sequel.

 

I've actually never played the original. I just read comments from people that have read the game saying the sanity meter was a big part of the game and if they remove it, it won't be the same.

[Sami]

And now I feel dumb for saying something so redundant.

 

Though, thinking about it, how much of the whole 'dudebro' demographic is a US thing? I'm pretty sure it's practically nonexistent in Japan (they generally don't give two shits about shooters, the last shooter franchise I remember gaining any kind of traction there was Left 4 Dead (I also hear Hideo Kojima (or someone else, can't remember) enjoys those games)), and it's probably very much reduced dramatically in Europe and the UK.

 

Well it doesn't really have to be a shooter. Minecraft and Assassin's Creed both have tons of mainstream appeal.

[Conando]

Minecraft isn't a "dudebro" game. Assassin's Creed could be seen as one, though. I suppose. Still, it's just an Action Adventure like PoP and Zelda.

[Sami]

I didn't say it was; I'm just saying it's got mainstream appeal. I know plenty of dudebros who are addicted to it, but I wouldn't call it a dudebro game by any means.

 

In hindsight, referring to core gamers as "mainstream" rather than "dudebros" would have been smarter on my part. Guess I'll just clarify that now.

[The Kid]

Has anyone sent anything into Nintendo to get it repaired? I'm thinking about sending in my Gamepad while it's under warranty (I noticed the ZR button wasn't responding correctly when Rayman jumped in and out of sprinting randomly in the challenge app) but I'm hesitant.

 

I really don't want to get some scratched up Gamepad back or... heaven forbid, a white one that wouldn't match my console. I've never actually used the repair service before, so does anyone have a "yay or nay" recommendation?

[Conando]

I've had some crap luck with 3DSes, I've sent them back a few times. Everything I got back was in pristine condition with a new 1-year warranty included.

[Solkia]

So would buying a used 3DS XL be a bad idea?

[Conando]

The first time my 3DS XL needed repairs was that I actually broke it. Well, someone smashed into me while it was in my pocket and the screen cracked. The 3DS I got was a first generation one, its screen was loose. Bunch of dust somehow got under the screen of my repaired 3DS XL, but they clean it for free even outside of warranty as far as I know (or at a far reduced price of like 10 bucks or something). I would get one if you can afford it, still. My story isn't typical of the average 3DS. They're pretty tough little things, and if you take care of them as if you would anything expensive they'll be fine.

[SuperLink]

It's all down to luck really. My brother's handhelds broke all the time for no reason but mine rarely ever have, I never had to buy a new DS model because my DSP was always fine.

 

As for repairs, I've had good experiences with Nintendo repairs, in UK at least. I'm not sure if they're as great in US or anythin'.

My GC's disc lens broke 3 times and each time it was repaired for free, more recently something similar happened with my Wii, it was way out of warranty and it had traces of homebrew on it, but I sent it back last year (that's 2012, almost 6 years after I bought it) and I still got it back for free with all my data and shop stuff still on it. I think they intended for me to pay but maybe they forgot. Or maybe they were being nice since the Wii literally broke for no reason other than overuse.

 

Bizarre. But yep I thnk Nintendo are really good with repairs and customer service generally.

Edited May 4, 2013 by SuperLink