Link's Crossbow Training screens

Link

It is hard to tell if these are really new areas using the Twilight Princess engine, or just reused areas from the game. I know the bottom screen with the bridge is reused, but the rest is more difficult to tell.

Wii is more powerful than Xbox: Gamecube equal to Xbox

This interview with Julian Eggebrecht from Factor 5 from 2001 is further proof about the Wii being greater in power than the original Xbox. Basically what Julian is saying here is that the Gamecube could do everything the Xbox could do, developers only needed to program differently. What does this mean for the Wii then? It means again that raw numbers don't tell the story. I don't mean to keep beating this power issue to death, but people still don't understand. Realizing that Gamecube was on par with Xbox is something that needs to be understood since many have said that the Xbox is more powerful than the Wii. Not true.


Read below:


Planet GameCube: Is Rogue Leader using sub-pixel anti-aliasing?

Julian Eggebrecht: Yes, it’s using the GameCube’s 3-point sub-pixel anti-aliasing and of course the excellent deflicker hardware for the interlaced output.

Planet GameCube: How does Rogue Leader utilize the GameCube's internal clock? Would you like to use this feature in future games?

Julian Eggebrecht: We always try to use as many hardware features in our games as possible, so we early on discussed how we could use the clock. It is quite fun to be surprised by it.

Planet GameCube: Are you happy with GameCube's memory bandwidth? Have you ever had to back-track and maybe trim some effects or textures down due to lack of bandwidth?

Julian Eggebrecht: There never were any problems with bandwidth. It really is the single-most impressive feature about the hardware and makes very reliable predictions about performance possible.

Planet GameCube: How flexible and useful is Gekko in assisting Flipper with custom lighting and geometry? Are you using this feature? Does it compare to the vertex and pixel shaders on the Xbox's graphics chip?

Julian Eggebrecht: Maybe without going into too much detail, we don’t think there is anything visually you could do on X-Box (or PS2) which can’t be done on GameCube. I have read theories on the net about Flipper not being able to do cube-mapped environment maps, fur shading, self-shadowing etc... That’s all plain wrong. Rogue does extensive self-shadowing and both cube-maps and fur shading are not anymore complicated to implement on GameCube than on X-Box. You might be doing it differently, but the results are the same. When I said that X-Box and GameCube are on par power-wise I really meant it.

Planet GameCube: In a recent IGNinsider article, Greg Buchner revealed that Flipper can do some unique things because of the ways that the different texture layers can interact. Can you elaborate on this feature? Have you used it? Do you know if the effects it allows are reproducible on other architectures (at decent framerates)?

Julian Eggebrecht: He was probably referring to the TEV pipeline. Imagine it like an elaborate switchboard that makes the wildest combinations of textures and materials possible. The TEV pipeline combines up to 8 textures in up to 16 stages in one go. Each stage can apply a multitude of functions to the texture - obvious examples of what you do with the TEV stages would be bump-mapping or cel-shading. The TEV pipeline is completely under programmer control, so the more time you spend on writing elaborate shaders for it, the more effects you can achieve. We just used the obvious effects in Rogue Leader with the targeting computer and the volumetric fog variations being the most unusual usage of TEV. In a second generation game we’ll obviously focus on more complicated applications.

Link

No More Heroes: Take a closer look inside Travis Touchdown's house

Link

The house looks very interactive and fun. I'm sure you can just mess around in it and see what you can uncover. It also looks like you'll be able to change Travis' outfit with some various choices. I'm glad Suda 51 is showing so much more of the game, its making it very easy to get excited for this game.

Resident Evil The Umbrella Chronicles Boxart

Amazing Oboro Muramasa Youtouden Trailer Debut

This is another totally amazing looking game with an art direction to die for. I just hope it can find its way to the United States, I'd hate to miss out on this game.

No More Heroes Intro

This game is just filled with freshness, style and humor. It has shot way up to my must buy list. February '08 can't come soon enough.

No More Heroes Trailer

Don't worry about the Ubisoft title screen, they are only the publisher for the American release. Suda 51 is the developer and designer of this game, and its looking very cool. After seeing what you can do with the Wii remote for motions with the sword in some newly released clips, I'm convinced that this is a must buy game.

New No More Heroes Screens

Another game that keeps looking better the more we see. I'm glad there are developers like Suda 51 that have the creative genius to make games like these. If you played Killer 7 than you know there was nothing ever done that was quite like it, and No More Heroes looks to be similar in uniqueness.

More Soul Calibur Legends screens

Very pretty and looking better all the time! Now instead of just a 5 minute preview of the game, we need extended play time to get a better idea of how good this game will be. I'm sure that will be coming soon.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed coming to Wii

"SAN FRANSISCO, Calif. Sept. 18, 2007 - LucasArts today revealed that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will come to the Wii home videogame system from Nintendo next spring, offering owners the unique chance to live out their Jedi fantasies by wielding the Wii Remote as a lightsaber while using the Nunchuk controller to torment foes with their Force powers.

The Force Unleashed casts players as Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice and promises to unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The game’s expansive story is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In it, players will assist the iconic villain in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

The Wii version, in development by Krome Studios, will also add an exclusive duel mode in which players can compete head-to-head with their friends to determine the ultimate Jedi Master.

“The Wii is a great platform for The Force Unleashed, because the console's motion-oriented controllers really bring the game to life,” said Jim Ward, President of LucasArts. “We’ve worked hard to make the Wii version of the game unique in order to truly let you unleash the Force.”

Link

Great news and you had to figure this was going to come sooner or later. The Wii is totally made for this exact type of game. Force push/pull etc. with the Nunchuk and Lightsaber with the Wii remote. A match made in heaven if you ask me.

New Soul Calibur Legends screens

From the new 1up preview, it seem the game has got a visual upgrade and improved gameplay. I'm still on the fence about this game, but we'll see how it turns out soon enough.

Resident Evil 5 Wii: Capcom basically says "No Comment"

Bishbish777 from the IGN Wii Lobby and the starter of the "Bring Resident Evil 5 to the Wii" Petition has posted a direct reply from the Senior Director of Strategy from Capcom regarding his plea of the petition with 21,000 signatures, and response to what needs to be done to bring RE5 to the Wii. Read the reply below:

"Bish,

I am someone of relatively high authority over issues like this (yes, believe it or not even being in the US I have daily discussions over future product strategy with both Japanese and US R&D folks and our executive team worldwide).

Your petition is a great effort and we greatly appreciate the passion you've shown to the RE brand. I'm pleased you've made the effort and I'd like to thank you for it if it was your doing.

As with pleas for several other Wii projects from fans, we certainly recognize that there is a demand for RE5 on the Wii. Your petition further validates our assumptions (as do the weekly posts in our Ask Capcom section that effectively ask the same thing). I locked your post because these threads inevitably become circular arguments among fans that are repetitive and non-constructive.

At the same time, there really is nothing more I or anyone else at Capcom can do about it at this time (it doesn't matter how high up the chain you go). We are 100% completely out of appropriate development resources to do additional projects in the near term beyond what's currently in the pipeline.

Does that mean it might not happen eventually in spite of the hardware challenges? Well, we don't know yet. And because we don't know, for us to say "sure, we'll do it" and set off slews of speculation and/or even potential heartbreak if the project never comes to be, doesn't do our fans or us any favors.

So for now, I continue to focus on what we know and that is that RE5 is coming to 360 and PS3. To say anything beyond that at this time really wouldn't be fair to you or the rest of the fans.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't still hope or be vocal. It just means we can't make any statements or commitments regarding RE5 for Wii.

-Christian"

Link

I am a member of the "Ask Capcom" forum and I have seen that everything he is saying is true. You don't know how many topics have been made in that forum and in forums across the world saying "Capcom needs to bring RE5 to the Wii" they are literally everywhere. The good news is that Capcom is finally taking notice of this and the big petition. He says to not give up hope and that they cannot confirm or deny RE5 on the Wii yet because it really is a possibility with the demand rising and the awareness of Capcom. It is just safer for them at this point to not make any extra announcements on the game coming to any other system besides 360 and PS3. Add this to the interview I posted below with Factor 5 on the Wii's graphic power, I can see a connect the dots situation rising.

If you ask me, it is only a matter of time before Resident Evil 5 is Wii bound.

The Wii does a lot more graphically and Factor 5 tells why

Revogamers interviews Julian Eggebrecht from Factor 5

RG=Revogamers

JE= Julian Eggebrecht

RG: Let's talk about Nintendo, You know Nintendo's hardware very well. Recently, you showed yourself disappointed with many studios graphical efforts on the Wii. In a hot selling machine like this, why don't we see many great looking games?

JE: There's a distinction between... because I think people took my comments as that I don't like the look for example for Wii Sports. I think what Nintendo is doing in the Wii Sports is perfectly fine because they're utilising the hardware for that style exactly as much as they need to utilise it. My complaints were actually about the games which try to go the traditional, more photorealistic route, because there you really have to push it, and they're really not pushing it. Why not? Hmmm I don't know, the hardware is very, very easy to understand. Now the problem might be -and it just might be- is that some studios -or some publishers specially- are discarding the graphical capabilities automatically simply because it is a Wii title and they're basically telling the developers "look, we won't pay for any advanced graphics". Because the Wii, I mean not that you would meet a 20 million dollar budget like on the PS3, but if you want to get really, really advanced graphics out of the Wii, then you have to spend probably more money than basically going for the cheap solution, so that might be an inherit problem, so it might actually not be the laziness of certain developers, but it might be the... inability or the non existent willingness of the publishers to actually give them in a budget to do better graphics.

RG: So maybe we can blame the publishers instead of the studios?

JE: I think that at the end of the day it's a mixture of both, because as a developer who is working on a more photorealistic title I think they also have to step up to the plate. They've to take a look a bit deeper and then go to the publisher and say look, just because we've done ten comic book type graphic titles, this one needs different graphics, so let's take a look a bit deeper into the hardware. You're giving us millions of dollars to find out how our assets end in the 360 GPU's work, we want to take a look a bit deeper into the Wii GPU because obviously you can do more. Many have proven... Resident Evil 4 clearly from Capcom or our own Rouge Squadron series has prove that you can do a lot more with the hardware, so it's not secret that it's in there, somewhere. But developers need to step up to the plate and the publishers as well... or they need to be open about it and if they're really willing to do it then they need to find the graphical style which is simply different, I mean that's another solution they have there.

RG: Can it be because of their tools? That it would be easier if the Wii had standard shader effects... or is it a matter of work because you have to prepare the shaders for yourself?

JE: The one thing which makes it probably harder for developers who are coming from the traditional direction is that the shader system inside the hardware works quite differently, you have something more right about that than the traditional AGI and the video pipelines. Because the thinking back when the basic graphics hardware structure was developed was to get very, very efficient, that hotwired a lot of things. But there're many possibilities in terms of how to use that hotwiring and actually rewire it, if you're clever about it. If you connect you can get a lot of shader effects which would've been on the 360 or the PS3.

RG: If you "create" them on the Wii

JE: Yeah, because... on the Wii, you just have to be more ingenious. But the Wii, on the other hand... I mean, think about it: it's got so much more power compared to the GameCube. If even with the extremely similar shader hardware, the system clockrate is so much higher, you can do so much more advanced things, so if people just would look at Rouge Leader, Rebel Strike and Resident Evil 4 and then say: this hardware is significantly faster than those games it should have the very minimum they should get that and then they should build on top of it.

RG: And with much more memory...

JE: Yeah, exactly, and the memory! That is a very good point. Aside from the shaders, our main limitation which we always found on the GameCube was the memory: the memory was a struggle the whole time; it was a very hard struggle. That was actually our biggest struggle. When we got the Wii specifications we were excited because we said "wow, this is actually the amount of memory which we needed"

RG: The memory problem you had before

JE: Yes, exactly, that would've been our "dream memory". (laughs)

A "simple" place for a deep talk

RG: Going with that... have you considered the option of sharing your previous development tools with other studios? Because Rebel Strike was an awesome looking game.

JE: The Star Wars engine was never developed in a way that you can just sell it to somebody, because we never thought of it as something sellable. If we would do a new engine or something which is more around or current engine because with four years... it'll be the one which is basically been used as the basis for Lair. If we would do a Wii version of that, certainly that could be something which somebody could license. But I wouldn't just drop the old Rebel Strike stuff just onto somebody, because at this time I think we're so much more clever about the load of the data path issues, which you guys in the press never see because you get to see the finished game. So all of these things now that we're much more clever about. And it was way too painful back then. We don't want to take up the old engine, but having said that I would do a new engine, and certainly it'd be fun to do that on the Wii.

RG: So would you start from zero or downgrade something that you've been using on Lair?

JE: In terms of the data path and things like that, we would probably use what we're using nowadays really exactly because you can transfer that over. In terms of shaders and very specific things like physics, we would start from scratch, because you need to tail up that very much to the hardware.

RG: Just one more question about that thing. Some other tools like the Unreal Engine are widely and easily licensed and used by many studios. We haven't seen a modified version of them for the Nintendo platform, which could make a full and easier use of its graphical and control possibilities. Why?

JE: I think the issue with that... you would have to ask them. I think the more successful the Wii platform gets, the more Epic and other engine vendors will probably think about the whole thing. But if their engine is all thought about and all built around the current generation in terms of 360 and PS3 graphics hardware, then they might have a problem actually getting for example the data sizes down to a point where they work nicely on the Wii. Outside of that this guys usually haven't work much or at all in the GameCube days on the graphics side, and that comes down to exactly what you were asking earlier and I don't know if with their high end graphics program... as they're willing to look at the hardware and do something completely new. But I can imagine that there will be several engines coming out, also for the Wii, because the more successful it gets, the more people will ask about the pros of portability. But it is a tricky issue because you can take the PC and then you say "for the PC and the PS3 and the 360, all have an arrange to kick off memory" for example. That's so much more!, so all of your data structures... certain things within the engine always assume that you have that much memory, it might be practically impossible to go over to the Wii. So it really depends on your engine and if it was designed in mind with something very small and very large, and it's sometimes not very easy to scale in very large and very small.

RG: So then it's not a matter of scaling but maybe reworking

JE: Yes, exactly.

RG: Mario Galaxy seems the best example of what the Wii can do. How far do you think a studio can go from that point? In other words, how much does the game use the power of the system in your opinion?

JE: I haven't seen all of Mario Galaxy...

RG: Have you tried it?

JE: Yeah, of course! (laughs) I'm a huge Mario fan, it's the one I'm looking forward to the most.

RG: Oh the cake stage is awesome!

JE: Yeah! (laughs) No, I'm so looking forward to it because I was a little disappointed (as probably most were) with Mario Sunshine because it seemed that at the half point they kind of lost interest in making the game. And Mario Galaxy is so inspired that it seems to be worth the success of Mario 64. And with that also, certainly looking at it, it's the first game -also which I saw at E3- where I said "yes, this thing is actually taking advantage, it's running at 60fps, it's basically doing new graphical things with the hardware. Having said that though, it's nice because of the things it's doing; it also does have certain advantage by having exactly the perfectly right style for the hardware. Doesn't make it easier at all, but nevertheless they have a big advantage due to that, because, of course, the Mario style just fits their hardware absolutely perfectly, and they're taking nice advantage of it. I think the biggest challenge which you have on that specific hardware platform is to go into the photorealistic route, because in the photorealistic route there're certain things which the basic structure of the graphics hardware was not meant for and which you have to find really clever tricks to basically make up. And that's kind of the next... that's the big barrier on the platform. I think certain developers will grab it. Certainly, if we would do a Wii game, we would try to do that.

RG: That'd be fantastic. After the Rouge Squadron series and Lair, will we be flying with Factor 5's next game? Any clues on when and in which platforms?

JE: (laughs) Hmmm... it's going to be a while and we actually cannot say anything about the platform yet. We're honestly at this point thinking about several titles in development and we haven't settled quite yet on which platform or which platforms if one of them is. So might be PS3, might be Wii... we're totally open to that. (laughs)

RG: Ok, the last question... we're making a poll for our readers, what's your favourite Wii game or project at the moment?

JE: Hmmm... it's interesting, if I have to go just for one it's Mario Galaxy, but I'm almost as interested in Wii Fit actually, because the whole thing is just intriguing!. Not so much as a gamer, I mean that's as casual as it gets, but just in terms of what they come up with in terms of clever software is the case...

RG: Or what You can come up with!

JE: (laughs) No, but I mean, personally as a gamer I can't wait for Galaxy

RG: Ok, that's all, thank you very much, Julian.

JE: Thank you guys.

Keep in mind that this is a translation from Spanish, but you can see clearly what they are talking about. This is more strong proof that the Wii can do very similar things to the Xbox 360 and PS3 graphically. It seems like Metroid Prime 3 is just the start of what the Wii can really do.

Metroid Prime 3 Corruption Review

Samus is back, but you've never played with her like this before

INTRODUCTION:

Have you ever played Half-Life 1 or 2? If so, you know how you can move/carry objects and interact with the environments. Half-Life was considered one of the best games of its time and the gameplay was a big reason for this. Why am I talking about Half-Life you ask? Well, Metroid Prime 3 Corruption takes the idea of interactivity that Half-Life had and adds to it and so much more. The immersion in MP3 in incredible, never has a game felt so connected to the person that is playing it. The Wii remote and Nunchuck deserve all the credit for this. Your right hand is Samus' right hand and your left hand is also Samus' left hand, it works wonders to say the least. The story in MP3 is also a lot more immersing than previous Prime games, not Final Fantasy immersion but still a lot more than just scanning and reading like the first two games. Real time Cut-Scenes tell the story well and keeps you feeling like you are playing the game rather than just watching a movie in-between levels.

CONTROL/GAMEPLAY:

Control is essential to Wii games and Metroid on the Wii nails the control on many levels. You will be using the Grapple Beam a lot, and with a flick of the wrist you will be swinging around and also pulling and yanking a lot of objects you'll encounter. It feels natural and doesn't seem like the Nunchuck is being used as gimmick by any means. The Wii remote is your main Hand Cannon and this is your main weapon and also used for many arm movements as well. Looking around, aiming, shooting, turning, touching and moving objects is all done with the Wii remote. Never has a First Person Shooter or any game for that matter given you more freedom of control. The FPS controls work better than any Wii game attempted thus far. Aiming is really easy as it should be with the Wii remote, but many gamers (myself included) have been surprised at how bad the controls have been for games like Red Steel and Medal of Honor. Aiming in those games felt really "out of wack" so to speak and movement was really not comfortable at all and even glitchy. MP3 solves all those problems with past experiences and gives you an extremely smooth and hassle free aiming and turning experience. Hopefully more games in the not too distant future can really learn from this. The control is not perfect however but it is forgivable since the issues I have are really minor. First I would have liked to turn a bit faster or at least have the option to up the sensitivity to my liking, the game is just a tad too slow in the turning department. Its nice to hear that Medal of Honor Heroes 2 will have a fully customizable control scheme with turn speed and bounding box size, but we'll have to wait and see if the all important aiming is as smooth as MP3. Second, I thought that the Morph Ball jumping with the Wii remote could have been more responsive. Many times I would do the motion and jump each time and then sometimes it would not read my motions. It wasn't a big problem but it was consistent through out the game so I must mention this. All the other motion controls you do in the game worked flawlessly for me. For those other reviews that said they had trouble with them, here is a word of advice: If the game tells you to pull back on the Wii remote and then push in, make sure that your hand is not already pulled back before it asks you because if it is, you obviously won't be able to pull back as far as the game wants you too thus making it not work. Just follow the instructions and really you shouldn't have any problems. Metroid Prime 3 has outstanding control regardless of those very minor issues.


SOUND:

The Dolby Pro Logic II sound is again very well done. You'll hear everything extremely clear and crisp coming at you from all angles. The voice acting is very good considering this is Retro's first attempt to put a lot of voice into the Prime series. The characters sound very believable and not too over the top as a lot of Nintendo games in the past seem to have been (We don't need Slippy in this Sci-Fi game). The music is wonderful and moody like past Prime games and Super Metroid. Most people will probably choose Sky Town as their favorite track, but I like the more subdued tracks. There is a recurring "song" or "mood theme" that plays through out the game that I like very much, it can be heard on the Galactic Federation Ship in the beginning of the game and much later on as well. The serious yet relaxing tone reminded me of the StarCraft main menu music, which is always a good thing in my opinion. Overall I would say that the music is not quite as memorable as Metroid Prime 1, but it's better than Prime 2 (Although Torvous Bog and the Underground Sewer were incredible).


GRAPHICS:

You'll notice pretty much right away that Metroid Prime 3 looks better than any Prime game before it. High Dynamic Range Bloom Lighting is used so well in this game that it has to be seen to be believed; screen shots and even videos will never, ever do this game justice- trust me. The levels are the real stars of the show as they glow and beam throughout and make you just look at them in awe for minutes on end. It's funny but I remember just wanting to kill every enemy in the room just so I could get back to looking at all the detail in the levels that Retro Studio's had made. Let me explain something to you all about how this game can look every bit as good as an Xbox 360 or PS3 game to a lot of people. Take Gears of War, the upcoming Crysis for the PC and the just released Bioshock. All those games (especially Crysis) have some of the best graphics gamers have no doubt ever seen. How could Metroid Prime 3 compare with those you ask? A game like Crysis probably has the most realistic graphics ever put into a videogame and it is extremely impressive to say the least. Crysis looks real, but Metroid Prime 3 looks beautiful and breath-taking. Really though its the lighting that just gives this game a "wow, this looks pretty" feel. It doesn't matter how powerful your PC is or how many "Next Gen" games you've seen so far, Metroid Prime 3 will impress you a great deal with its graphics and gigantic scope of the levels you'll be exploring.


CONCLUSION:

Sadly, this game has to eventually come to an end. The good news is that there is an extra hard difficulty setting that can tried after you beat the game on Normal (Veteran is always a choice). Normal setting is easier than past Prime games, so if you think you're "so hardcore" you should just start the game on Veteran and you'll be more than happy with the challenge that this game will give you. Also, I will absolutely not take points off Prime 3 for not having a Multiplayer mode. Since when were Metroid games about having any type of Multiplayer? Besides, if they want to put multiplayer in a Metroid game on the Wii they would have to do it the same way the did Hunters on the DS and just make a full Multiplayer game out of it. Would you rather have four levels and a couple characters to choose from, or a fully fledged out Multiplayer game with 30 levels and 15-20 characters to choose from? The latter no doubt. You know that if Retro put Multiplayer in this game it would have certainly been more limited just like Prime 2's Multiplayer was. Metroid Prime 3 is more about concluding the Trilogy, and I totally understand Retro's reason for making this game the way they did. This is the best Metroid Prime yet and I highly recommend it to fans of the series and to new people that never played a Metroid game before.

Metroid Prime 3 Corruption will long be remembered as a truly incredible experience.


PRESENTATION: 10

GRAPHICS: 9.5

SOUND: 9.5

CONTROL: 9.0

GAMEPLAY: 10


OVERALL SCORE: 9.8

Oboro Muramasa Youtouden Wii screens

When I first saw this game I thought it was a 2D fighting game, but it really appears to be a sidescroller. Its looking pretty awesome from developer Vanillaware, now we just need a US release date.