N-Query

Matt's thoughts on the DS versus PSP. Plus Zelda.

A Darker Persia

Hey guys,

Thanks for keeping the mailbag updated regularly it's cool since the onslaught of AAA titles is pouring in non-stop. My Q has to do with one of those games, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. In your latest batch of GCN screens was it just me or were the images too dark? I mean in some screens I couldn't see a damn thing. Is this a problem with the GCN build of the game?

Thanks, Your friendly neighborhood Igotnintendo2.

Matt responds: We uploaded Five GameCube screens of Prince of Persia 2 a couple days ago, for readers unaware.

This is a dark game. Much darker than the first, in fact. But I can see them fine on my monitor. Try upping the brightness on you screen to see if that helps.

To answer your question specifically, the GameCube build looks no darker than the others.

No Tapes

Hi Matt,
Got a couple of question firstly and most importantly i know that typewriters are used to save in resi 4 but i need to know will we have a limited number of saves depending on how many tapes we have. In past Resi games this has been quite frustrating and Mikami seems to be wanting to extend past limitations. Also will the recently posted resi 4 featurette ever be available to non-insiders?

Matt responds: There are no tapes in Resident Evil 4. If you can find a typewriter, you can save, plain and simple. As for whether or not the Insider featurette will ever be made available to non-Insiders, probably not. It's huge. About 20 minutes, if memory serves. And we simply can't host such a large file to non-paying customers. It's a pretty cool video, so if you need an excuse to sign up, that's a good one. Plus, for every Insider that signs up, Frangoat gets to eat a snail.

Geist

Hey guys just have a few comments to make about Nintendo and a question. First I think the teaser for Echoes is great, the type of edgy marketing that Nintendo needs more of. Second RE4 looks to die for (sorry had to drop that in there). Looking at the release list Nintendo isn't doing to bad, we may have fewer releases, but there are a large number of high quality title. From Prime 2, RE4, Prince of Persia 2, Geist, Viewtiful Joe 2, etc. Not bad for the little Cube. Which brings me to my question. Nintendo just released a nice booklet with highlighting all 3 system and their games. Really nice. There I saw some nice pictures of Geist, any news on that game? The pictures look like an improvement on what I had already watch of the game. Any news on that front?

Thanks and keep up the good work.
Alex

Matt responds: Haven't heard a thing about it for some time. It's been delayed into next year, as you probably know. Nintendo isn't talking about it at all. The game was not anywhere to be found at the publisher's recent Gamers Day event in Seattle. I imagine we'll hear more about it early next year.

Zelda Extended Trailer

Hey Matt Just reading the latest mailbag I remembered about 2 un-seen "screenshots" of Zelda on GCN. I bought the E3 Access DVDs and in the very final video montage you can see what I can only imagine is parts from the extended trailer that was shown back stage. I've captured them for your convenience. The 1st shows Link in a field I guess, and the Hyrule castle in the background.

2nd one is a bit blurry, but you can see Link on Epona crossing a small stream.

You saw the extended trailer, right? Are these from it?
Cheers

Matt responds: Well, it's kind of tricky. The screens you provided are actually two microscopic snippets of additional Zelda video from Nintendo's E3 press conference.

Technically, your screens come from that.

On the other hand, those scenes are not in the officially released Zelda trailer and are featured in the extended Zelda trailer we saw. So you could make a case that yes, these are from the extended trailer.

At any rate, very good eye and find. This will likely be the first glimpse some of our non-Insiders will have seen of the water in the new Legend of Zelda. And it looks pretty snazzy, doesn't it?

For anybody who hasn't yet read our preview of the extended trailer, do so by clicking here.

Can't wait to play this sucker.

Plasma One Year Later

A while back you posted a feature on gadgets to go along with your gaming setup. N-Gear did a great job of comparing TVS etc... it was mentioned that Matt had an awesome TV, what i would like to know is after contless hours of playing has the Plasma TV held up?

Matt responds: Yeah, I've owned a 50" Panasonic plasma for about a year now and continue to love it. For the record, despite all the talk from people who have never owned a decent plasma set about burn in and ghosting, as well as inferior black levels, my TV has performed flawlessly. I really can't recommend it enough. Great picture. Excellent black levels with a contrast ratio of 3000:1. And not a hint of burn in despite the fact that I have for a year played videogames for hours at a time, watched standard and high-definition television with and without the "black bars" for several hours at a time, and even displayed photograph slideshows on it.

Simple truth: you get what you pay for. If you buy a crap plasma, you're probably going to have problems. If you buy a good one, you're going to get a good set.

I've been re-playing Metroid Prime on my television for the last week and loving it. I tried to convince some of our message board readers to break out the game and do the same and posted a blurry, high-contrast pic of my setup. Not the best quality, but you get the idea

DS Versus PSP

Matt, what are your thoughts on the Nintendo DS and PSP? You remained somewhat quite on the subject since both systems' unveiling (yes, I know this is the Cube channel).

Matt responds: To be honest, I really haven't made up my mind yet. I need more time with both handhelds before I reach a point where I prefer one to the other.

Right now my opinion is that Sony's PSP is going to be a slick piece of machinery any way you slice. Superb screen, great design, and some seriously high-tech portable games. At least one high profile GameCube developer I recently spoke with said that it could get a better looking version of its GCN title running on PSP, if it wanted to, which is pretty amazing. On the other hand, I wonder if gamers will really care if PSP software looks that much more gorgeous. Does it matter that Metal Gear looks like the PS2 game if players still only see it all a couple inches across? Will a great looking portable version of Resident Evil still be scary? I'm not sure.

On top of that, I'm not too keen on what I've been hearing about PSP battery life, or specifically that it isn't all that hot. If the seriously graphic intensive games are going to zap the power out of the portable in a couple hours, that could be a problem, especially for those long trips.

Meanwhile there's the DS. It's innovative, I guess. Nintendo says it's innovative, anyway. True enough, the DS is pretty intriguing. I like the idea of using two screens for different functionality. I also like the touch-screen element, which if used right could really change the way portable games are played. The only problem so far is that nobody seems to be really innovating, including Nintendo. And that's a bit scary. A version of Super Mario 64 minus analog control is not innovation. Some third-party games don't even use the touch screen. And furthermore, games that do use it also sacrifice all of the remaining button functionality because players need to use one hand to grip the DS and the other to draw on the touch-screen -- a setup that more than a couple of editors have complained feels uncomfortable, by the way.

I get a look at Metroid Prime Hunters in motion and despite all of its could-be drawbacks I want the DS much more than I do the PSP at this moment in time. Plus, the added benefit of wireless deathmatches just sounds cool, thank you Nintendo. And yet, I'm getting the sense that Nintendo has tried so hard to be different that it's backed itself into a corner with DS. It's kind of like, "So we have these two screens. What the hell do we do with them?" Hopefully the company releases some truly pioneering games for the system that prove me wrong, but right now I can't shake the feeling.

On a side note, is there any reason, save for price, to own a GBA any more? If the DS is a "third pillar," why does it completely replace the need for Nintendo's other handheld?

If you're asking where I think Sony and Nintendo's handhelds will be in four or five years, I don't think you're going to like my answer. I believe that Sony marketing will come like a juggernaut and change the portable gaming market as we currently know it. I think it's going to make PSP the cool thing to have, and perhaps consumers won't mind spending the extra money to have it. It'll also draw an older audience. And while I believe that Nintendo's handhelds will still retain majority market share during the next two or three years, my guess is that in five years the market will be split half and half, or perhaps slightly in Sony's favor.

Rabid Nintendo fanboys, send all of your hate mail to [email protected]

Viewtiful Solo

In your latest impressions of Viewtiful Joe 2, you say in one paragraph "While Viewtiful Joe 2 will not feature a co-op mode, the game does let you swap characters on the fly using "Viewtiful Touch." So the 2-player co-op mode was taken out of the game? Please tell me that this is not true. And if this is unfortunately true, do you know why Capcom took it out of the game?

Matt responds: Don't know why Capcom decided to take it out of the game, but there is no longer a co-op mode in Viewtiful Joe 2. Instead there's Viewtiful Touch, which lets you swap between Joe and his girlfirned during a single-player game.

The Prime Conspiracy

Matt responds: Uh... here's something to keep everybody busy. Make of it what you will:

And, well...