THQ Dan Ryan (associate game designer) on podcast
– Could see another Smackdown game next year
– Matt thinks it’d be crazy, since usually, it’s not considered a yearly franchise
– Bozon thinks first game was a great first step for the franchise
– Fun, great first effort
– Impossible to put in all modes, etc in first game for Wii plus motion controls with no problem
– Ryan says they read reviews, take everything into account
– Can’t confirm/deny there’s another game in the works
– May want to change the game to add more interaction
– Ryan knows fans had like it, but had bigger expectations, went to casual-gaming pick up and play audience
– Anyone could play, have fun with it immediately
– Mii functionality could be taken further – Ryan loves the Wii features, weather channel can be used, mail from characters, etc.

– During the podcast, Matt and Bozon are always shirtless
– Event like last year at Wrestlemania – may get more official news there
– More interesting guests on the show in the future – Ryan exits

Master System heading to Virtual Console
– Peer never really played the system much
– Matt left to Baltimore or something
– Peer can steal things off of his desk
– Peer also thinks Matt has problems dressing

Wii’s tie-in ratio 8:1 in December
– Peripherals only works with Nintendo games – ex: GT Pro Series
– All-time ratio not too great for Wii – slightly more than PS3, not even close to 360

Ubisoft-Nintendo-quality titles – More casual games from Ubisoft?
– Nintendo goes the extra mile to make their games really good
– Peer thinks Ubisoft can’t reach Nintendo’s heights
– Bozon: For Ubisoft to take themselves seriously, they’d have to take Rainbow team or Ghost Recon team on these projects
– If wanted to attain Nintendo-like quality, they’d put their “A” team on Rayman – ex: Platformer, not mini-games
– Ubisoft future: Brothers in Arms (port), Dog Island, Alive (may come to Wii), Petz, Prince of Persia (down-graded version, at least visually), Rainbow Six (same problem), Avatar
– When you think Nintendo-like quality, you know it’s going to be something special – Bozon
– Nitro Bike – plays like Excite Truck, but muddy visuals

Bozon’s blog:
– Analog control – forget about 1:1 movement for now
– Are we ever going to see a game like NBA Live for Wii – take a shot – didn’t shoot hard enough, so air-ball, or shoot too hard, goes into stands
– Will developers go beyond waggle = button press?
– Will take awhile, but controls will continue to get better – Peer
– Need to get past gimmicky phase
– Head-tracking – impressive, but limitation with only one person seeing it

Wii’s 2008, Top 10 anticipated
– Impressive games for 08
– Peer has a wishlist – only has 1 Wii game in top 20 – Brawl is his most anticipated – loves fan service
– So many characters, musical pieces – Pikmin stage worth price of admission
– Also for Peer: Mario Kart, Animal Crossing (when will we see it?), Dragon Quest 9, Pro-Evolution Soccer
– Pro-Evolution in early phase, but flows extremely well – intuitive – Peer very excited
– Wii gets spin-offs a lot of the time
– #6 for Peer: ASH – made by FF creator, looks great, came out in Japan already
– #7 Wii Fit – intrigued, but doesn’t know if he’ll stick with it
– #8 King’s Story (Project O) – charming
– #9 Ninja Gaiden DS – not too much of a fan of the console versions
– #10 Wii Music – wants to see how it’s done – wants classic Nintendo songs
– Another game Peer is looking forward to but can’t reveal yet
– Bozon has 4 RPGs on his list
– Bozon’s list: Smash, Mario Kart, King’s Story, Ninja Gaiden, DQ9, ASH, de Blob, FFCC for DS, FF Tactics, Pro-Evolution
– FFCC for Wii seems like going through changes, might not release in 08
– Peer liked old Samba de Amigo game – worried about maracas for new version

Thoughts on Smash online video
– Peer: Looks very encouraging
– Not worried about distance/connection in the video
– Playing online without voice chat is a sad thing

Mario Kart’s release date
– Supposed to be Q2
– Peer thinks it’ll come out 11/18
– Bozon: 11/14 – will be very surprised if it releases in Q2
– Nintendo likes releasing their games in same period
– Mario Kart always gets delayed
– Wii Fit will tide Nintendo over financially, will make something for July

What’s Capcom doing?
– Looking at Sonic crossover, will do something with Nintendo
– Capcom valuable to Nintendo, can’t end this way
– They have Okami, but need to have something new
– Rumor release list: Zack & Wiki 2, some Megaman game
– Real release list somewhere around GDC possibly

When will Nintendo show rest of line-up for 08?
– Gaps, could be other big and minor games – ex: Pikmin
– GDC and E3 left – Peer: not at GDC, but we will see something at E3
– Will be announcements before E3 in Japan

Latest reviews:
– One Piece – 6.8 – not as good as last ones on GCN
– Nitro Bike – 6.5 – fun but murky, online system is awful
– Endless Ocean – 8.0 – Matt really liked it – won’t be remembered, but something different
– No More Heroes – 7.8 – only sometimes amazing – gameplay there sometimes, not there at other times
– Jenga – 1.7 – completely pointless

– EA block game looks cool

Reader questions:
– If No More Heroes lacked blood in the NA version, it wouldn’t change much, but it’s lame – Possibly 7.7
– Waiting for We Love Golf – will have a lot of coverage when they get it
– Factor 5 interview about lazy developers will happen, but it takes a lot of time to do
– New laser TVs will have a better picture
– Bozon misses Matt’s beard
– Not too many rumors about interesting WiiWare titles
– Ubisoft didn’t push No More Heroes marketing – oddball game, don’t want attention after Manhunt 2 problems
– Retro hasn’t said much about lack of advertising for Metroid Prime 3 – still sold pretty well, could have done better
– Bozon enjoys Megaman 2 and Megaman X the most
– Peer doesn’t think Nintendo will make only casual games in the future
– Single-player on 360 – best is Call of Duty 4 and Orange Box
– Mario RPG on VC – Have to wait and see what Square will do – could end up releasing it for DS
– Most Canadian stores getting No More Heroes on Feb. 1st – Bozon bought them all
– Nintendo is a guy
– VC compilations on disks – Sega could do this, Bozon wouldn’t like it – SNK already doing it
– Reviews: Price can determine a lot for a game – also different editors, different opinions

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