home / articles / staff articles / staff article 0019 (you are here)

Staff articles

Nintendo's second coming

In the age of super-hype and next-gen systems, it?s very easy to become jaded by what the market has to offer. Take Playstation 2 for example. The release of Sony?s latest was herald by a media blitz like no other. Sony made claims to console perfection, DVD compatibility, and a slew of titles to keep gamers more than happy in the first-quarter release alone.

Well, facts alone show that Sony?s hype driven train didn?t even make it to the station. So what do we do and how do we get excited over Nintendo?s next gen when so far no other console has lived up to it?s own press? And what?s worse, how can anyone get excited over Nintendo?s Gamecube after the haphazard way they handled the N64 and the titles with it?

One word: Zelda.

Need another word? How about three: First Quarter Release.

This game alone will be the platform for Nintendo?s mean machine to launch itself into the next-gen fray and come out not only on top, but also without a scratch on it. And what?s more, the unprecedented first quarter release of a major title like Zelda, alongside Retro Studios release of Metroid : Prime is more than enough to get fans both new and nostalgic old salivating over the charming little box.

By now, most any Zelda fan worth their salt has seen the fantastic footage of Link engaged in swordplay with Ganondorf. The Spaceworld film feature of the two sparked off a wave of excitement for the graphics and cinema feel that the Gamecube would bring to Shigeru Miyamoto?s next hit.

Well allow me to stir that excitement up into a frenzy. The movie that was shown was not only thrown together in minutes by Miyamoto?s team, but was run off a BETA version of the Gamecube processor, then called Dolphin. Remember the initial films Nintendo released for Zelda64 and how the finished product overshadowed them by leaps and bounds? Just imagine if you will what the finished product of Zelda will look like once it?s been polished to a shine.

I mention Zelda mainly because it?s a gemstone in the new Nintendo crown. Nintendo has learned from past mistakes, and is poised to corner, reinvent, and dominate the console market. They have finally figured out that the mainstay of gameplayers do not endorse titles like Mickey Mouse Racing, or such drivel in that vein, but lean in the direction of fast paced, action, immerse, and emotionally heightened game titles like Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, and Zelda. And so, Nintendo and its third party developers are focusing on the basics of video games. They are beginning to focus on what made them the Top selling console from the late 80?s onto the early 90?s.

Third Party developers have apparently taken notice as well. The lack of support in the past 3 years for the 64 from third party developers inevitably is it?s failing grace. But now with the Gamecube, Nintendo is aiming at the 18-25 year old demographic of gamers and giving them something to really sink their teeth into. Companies like Capcom, Konami, Acclaim, Sunsoft, Retro Studios, and Eidos are all lending their collective strengths to the Gamecube in a monumental effort of immense video game proportions.

Nintendo does not need the hype stream to float Gamecube on to success. The Gamecube alone is more than capable of handling that boat ride on it?s own.

Xerjester