Team Fremont.com-Nintendo's Road to E3 Review

Nintendo's Road to E3

E3 is an overload for the senses. The sights and sounds pulse through your brain as you walk around the show floor. But as great as E3 is, it’s really not the ideal environment to sit down and get a good feel for the games. It’s loud, there are people jammed into the tight spaces next to you, impatiently waiting for their chance to play. And as more and more people learn to weasel their way into the show, the harder it is to get work done. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that we jumped at the chance to play a handful of Nintendo’s upcoming games on our own terms. During what they’re calling “The Road to E3”, Nintendo sent out two company reps - with a small bus decked out with two LCD monitors, a surround sound system, four GameCubes, and a handful of DS decks - to members of the press all across the country.

Oh...and a pile of unreleased games.

Because Team Fremont HQ is a good twenty miles from downtown Minneapolis, we agreed to meet our hosts at Hilden’s house...in the ghetto. Luckily, there were no drivebyes, drug deals, or ho beatings during our meeting, although Hilden was propositioned twice.

Here are a few pictures of the van and our hosts:

And of course, no publisher meeting would be complete without some swag. Nintendo was kind enough to give us a fancy DS stylus/pen and notepad, handy for taking notes at the upcoming Electronics Entertainment Expo:

But this is all gravy. What we were there for was the games. We were allowed to play four games for the GameCube and four games for the DS. The games were Killer 7, Geist, Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball, Donkey Konga 2, Polarium, Pac Pix, Castlevania DS (Working Title), and Nintendogs.

Killer 7

This is a game that we’ve been excited about since Capcom first announced it as one of the illustrious “Capcom 5” a few years back. While three of the other 5 have managed to see the light of day, the revelation of Killer 7 has been a slow one. With only a few shots leaked here and there in order to demonstrate the uncanny visual style of the game, details about the gameplay itself have been hard to come by.

We got some hands on time with the game in Nintendo’s bus of gaming magic and our time with the game confirmed our initial suspicions that this is one game that stands apart from the crowd.

Using a distinctive visual style, it’s easy to classify it as simply trying to be different. But seeing the game in action really gives you a sense that it’s being used for a storytelling and mood reasons that still pictures can’t convey. It’s haunting and strange and a little creepy in places, and we can only assume that’s the effect Capcom was trying for. We enjoyed the idea of a new visual style, however seeing it in action makes it look a bit dated. Nothing that detracts too much from the game, but it takes some getting used to. While the visual style of the game is a little off putting at first, it’s far from the only thing that sets Killer 7 apart from the rest.

The gameplay is a strange mix of first person shooter and on rails puzzle solver. To move through the game, you simply press the A button. When a change of direction is necessary, you are presented with choices as to where you’d like to go. Push the analog stick in that direction, press A and off you go.

Enemies are detected via aural cues and it is at that point where you go into the first person shooter mode. Hitting the R button puts you into the first person perspective and hitting L allows you to scan your enemy. Scanning is necessary as the enemies you face are ghostlike until you scan them. Your goal is to find and shoot the bomb that is stuck in some part of the enemy’s anatomy. By shooting it, you destroy the monster and collect its blood, which can be used for character upgrades.

And there are plenty of characters in Killer 7 to choose from. Each level allows you to “awaken” one of Harmon Smith’s 7 different personalities and you need to use each of these members and their unique skills to solve the various puzzles found in the game. One of the best features of this game is the fast character switching. Nothing can be more of a pain than going through menu after menu to get to the character that you need. Killer 7 has an elegant set up that allows you to select your character and the loading of that character into the game only takes a few seconds, allowing the game to continue to flow.

Puzzles in Killer 7 force you to use these characters rather frequently and as an added bonus, you may switch them when another one of your personalities starts to get low on health. It’s this careful balance of design that may make Killer 7 a game to keep on your radar.

Slated for a June release, this new addition from Capcom is an interesting addition to the GameCube library.

Donkey Konga 2

One of our favorite games of this year was Donkey Konga. With some neat bongo controllers and interesting gameplay it stood out as one of the breakout hits of the year for us. So we were anxious to try out the latest installment of this great game. Staying true to the roots of the first game, the newest edition adds some nice touches to the mix and manages to change things up in a fairly substantial way.

Anyone who played the original will have no trouble stepping up to the plate in the latest incarnation. The only major addition to the game is the scoring mechanism has been changed to make the game a little more specific in who wins. The addition of icons to the scoring bar is a nice, if a relatively unnecessary touch. Multiplayer is still a blast and the more folks you have, the better it is.

But not all changes are for the better. It seems that Nintendo has done some research and found that Junior High through College age students are the biggest players of the Donkey Konga series and they have tailored the music in the sequel to fit. Be prepared to hear a lot of Usher, Hillary Duff, REM and the like as you pound away on those bongos. For the average consumer, this will be perfect music to play to. Those of us with a taste for something other than modern pop may be disappointed in the lack of variety.

Donkey Konga 2 is due to hit in May.

Pac-Pix

Truly one of the most unique games at our little sit down session, Pac-Pix gives you a chance to really use the stylus in one of the most interesting variations on the Pac-Man theme we’ve seen since Pac-Man vs. The idea is a simple one. The board fills up with a few ghosts and you must use your stylus to draw Pac-Man. After drawing Pac-Man, it begins to move and chomp away, leaving you the task of guiding him to the ghosts. You may draw walls to change Pac-Man’s direction, touch him with a stylus to stop and draw him as big or as many times as you need in order to clear the board.

The object is to clear as many boards as you can, and progress through the levels scoring points and collecting items. While nothing groundbreaking in terms of objectives, the use of the stylus and second screen makes this a game only the DS could play. It’s this innovative gameplay that really proves the power and potential of the DS, however, Pac-Pix comes off as more of a tech demo than a real game.

While being quite fun and a great way to show off the latest touching craze, Pac-Pix appears to remain a tool to show off these features rather than use them to innovate the puzzle genre.

Pac-Pix will be released sometime in 2005.

Castlevania DS

We played a very early build of this game (only half a level was available) that was used simply to showcase the graphics and music being utilized in the DS incarnation of the Castlevania series. Graphically, the game is leaps and bounds ahead of the GBA-SP Aria of Sorrow. Control is very similar to Aria as is the design of the levels and enemies. What really sets this game apart form those before it are the uses of the touch screen. However, the early build of the game that we got our hands on had none of these functions available to preview. It is only hoped that Castlevania DS will utilize these controls in unique and interesting ways.

As we get more information on this highly anticipated game, we’ll have more info.

Geist

Having played Geist at both E3 2003 and E3 2004, we figured we knew exactly what to expect. Unfortunately, the single-player game experienced a game-ending glitch during our demonstration, so we weren’t able to explore that mode too deeply. However, we were able to glean a few important details.

Gamers play as John Raimi, a disease-control agent with the federal government. Raimi’s unit is sent to investigate the Volks Corporation where he is captured and has his spirit ripped from his body during an experiment. We were able to see a short training level (Level 1B) that took place in a surreal, yet creepy outdoor environment. We discovered that you’re able to possess creatures with your spirit when their aura turns red.

As cool as the single-player concept is, it was the multiplayer mode that really took us by surprise. Frankly, after playing the game at the past two E3s, we forgot the game even had a multiplayer mode. Despite the fact that the GameCube is devoid of any online support, the sheer inventiveness behind the multiplayer mode may make it a must-have fragfest. The ability to possess different beings that inhabit the multiplayer maps makes for some incredibly fun strategy. During Hilden’s 4-2 ass-whipping over John, he was able to possess a gun turret and completely catch John by surprise. Split screen or not, that shit is cool.

Geist is scheduled for release on June 27, 2005.

Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball

Neither of us can be considered fans of baseball. The way we see it, baseball is five minutes of action spread out over three hours. However, Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball looks like it may give guys like us what we’re looking for: an accessible yet deep baseball simulation. Nintendo has always been known for their ability to make games accessible enough for the casual gamer, yet deep enough for the hardcore fanatic. And from what we played of NPCB, it impressed us with its ability to do both.

The game features three levels of pitching, and each time you upgrade your level, the pitching window gets smaller. Picking your style of pitch is incredibly intuitive and is also hidden from your opponent. Simply select your style by pushing in that direction and hitting the A button.

Baseball games, virtual and otherwise, are notoriously long, making season and franchise modes next to impossible to finish. With that in mind, Nintendo has implemented a Speedplay option allowing gamers to skip the tedium of fielding and focus on hitting and pitching.

Also included is a very cool Playoff Hunt mode where you can select a scenario from your favorite team and try to recreate it and get yourself to the playoffs. Succeeding will open up the World Series Hunt mode.

As extremely casual fans of baseball, we found ourselves surprisingly impressed with this one. The pitching mechanism worked out quite well and being able to skip over the more tedious aspect of the game really appeal to us. Check it out on June 13th.

Nintendogs

We’re not sure we can call Nintendogs a “game”. We’d rather classify it as a Tamagotchi for the 21st Century. Our playtest allowed us to interact with three dogs, all seeming to compete for our attention. We pet their heads, rubbed their bellies, and even taught them how to jump rope. Unfortunately, the voice command was turned off in this demo, so we weren’t able to give them instructions or shout verbal abuse.

Graphically, the game is incredibly impressive, beating out the usual “just above GBA-level” graphics of other DS titles. The dogs were very lifelike and eerily responsive. They react to the different places you pet them and interact with each other just as actual dogs would. For example, if you were to toss a blanket around to play with, the dogs fight over it just as real dogs would.

Again, it’s hard to classify this as a game, but Nintendogs should make for an interesting pet simulator.

Polarium

The final game on our play list was the upcoming Polarium. For our full review of the finished version, click here. Whether or not this is the “next Tetris” remains to be seen, but we will concede that this simple puzzle game is incredibly addicting. You’ll be able to pick it up in just a few short days and decide for yourselves.

And that sums up our Nintendo Road to E3 hands-on experience. It gave us a good taste of what to expect at E3 and we can’t wait to get there. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to drop us a line here.
Article By: John and Hilden