Ninty Hits & Misses

***CaptHayfever*** · 05-30-2011, 06:52 PM

Yahoo Games has a tendency to feature articles written by people who have no idea what they're talking about, so it was pretty cool to see that this annotated gallery of Nintendo's biggest hardware successes & failures was not only accurate & coherent, but actually rather witty as well:

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The original motion-sensing controller (sort of), the Power Glove made awesome promises to 80's gamers. Then, it made a fist and punched those promises in the nose.

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How do you top what many at the time considered the most amazing home console ever conceived? Make it super! The Super NES, however, was more than just an NES with an adjective...

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In 1995, the term ‘virtual reality' was all the rage. And that's the predominant feeling most gamers were left with after plunking down cash on Nintendo's nauseating attempt to immerse players in a "true 3D game world." A cross between a Game Boy and a View-Master, the bulky device's monochromatic display had gamers seeing red

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

***Cosmonautical*** · 06-02-2011, 07:00 AM

Someone dissing the powerglove and the virtual boy? What a breath of fresh air.

***Ace Mercury*** · 06-02-2011, 07:43 AM

Yeah, it's nothing especially earth-shattering. A pretty nice timeline of highlights and low-lights for Nintendo, but it does skip over entire generations (Gamecube, remember that?).

***CaptHayfever*** · 06-02-2011, 12:18 PM

^^It was the prose, man! Talk to your wife.

^I think their point was that the Gamecube's flop was nothing in comparison to those other hardware failures.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

Dux is not you · 06-02-2011, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ace Mercury

Yeah, it's nothing especially earth-shattering. A pretty nice timeline of highlights and low-lights for Nintendo, but it does skip over entire generations (Gamecube, remember that?).

You could assume the Gamecube wasn't a particular hit or miss.

CuccoLady · 06-02-2011, 08:22 PM

I use my Wii to play more Gamecube games than Wii games. >_>

**X-3** · 06-02-2011, 08:56 PM

GCN didn't sell too well but it still provided some great experiences.

The items on the list...probably not so much.

***Ace Mercury*** · 06-02-2011, 09:39 PM

Oh wow. There are two threads that use the "Fred Savage" tag.

Chaos Deviot · 06-03-2011, 12:48 AM

Admittably, the Power Glove is fun for costumes. /Troll

But seriously, I have yet to actually use it in a game. I might find it fun, for an rpg, anyway.

***Cosmonautical*** · 06-03-2011, 06:56 AM

^ Super Gloveball. Works fine as a specialized controller. I wouldn't recommend it for any mainstream games, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by X-3

GCN didn't sell too well but it still provided some great experiences.

The items on the list...probably not so much.

The GCN was a huge commercial success, helping Nintendo earn more money than the poorly-executed PS2 which sold units well in excess of the Gamecube. Not to speak of the Xbox, which was a loss overall.

***Ace Mercury*** · 06-03-2011, 07:29 AM

Yeah, I find it surprising that Nintendo keeps pulling in profits despite the two heavy-hitters in the same field. I think it's because Nintendo is a dedicated gaming company, which means it can adapt to change better than the Sony and Microsoft lumbering aircraft carriers.

***Cosmonautical*** · 06-03-2011, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptHayfever

^^It was the prose, man! Talk to your wife.

I did final editing for prose on her last story.

Prose doesn't really mean a thing when you haven't got anything to say, btw.

Hydronix · 06-04-2011, 11:59 PM

^^^ Never heard of it, oddly enough. Was it third-party?

***Cosmonautical*** · 06-06-2011, 04:04 AM

It was made by Mattel, just as the Powerglove was, as far as I know.

It's proof that the powerglove is a perfectly functioning peripheral controller that was stupidly marketed as a play-all-games controller. It's not that you can't use it to badly play other games, it's that it works about as well as a steering wheel would. It also has interference issues with noise and clutter in the room, the same as Kinect does with space constraints and light pollution. The manual does not state this as far as I'm aware, though, and it has absurdly simple setup instructions for a very complex device. You can blame the marketing dept for that too, they're usually in charge of commercial prints manufacturing and accessibility.

Click to view video.

Similar to Kinect, the powerglove became a popular peripheral hack for PC's working with low-level DIY virtual reality software. I've heard that it was even used as a makeshift mouse.

The U-force is also ragged on ceaselessly by idiots that did not know how to use it. It actually works perfectly, although it does NOT work like a traditional controller and was never intended to. Watch the vids on this page to get an idea of how well it can work:

A Motion Control Master Shows The NES’s U-Force Wasn’t So Useless | Kotaku Australia

I've almost considered making a video myself, of me using it, since there's so much BS info about how "terrible" it is.

06-02-2011, 07:00 AM	#2
*Cosmonautical* Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: I rub my tilde all over your asterisk Gender: Posts: 28,100 Thanks: 2,151 Thanked 5,338 Times in 2,433 Posts	Someone dissing the powerglove and the virtual boy? What a breath of fresh air.

06-02-2011, 07:43 AM	#3
*Ace Mercury* Marshmallow Knight ☆ Supermod Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Southern Ontario Gender: Posts: 23,275 Thanks: 568 Thanked 3,297 Times in 1,582 Posts Blog Entries: 1	Yeah, it's nothing especially earth-shattering. A pretty nice timeline of highlights and low-lights for Nintendo, but it does skip over entire generations (Gamecube, remember that?).

06-02-2011, 12:18 PM	#4
*CaptHayfever* Smash SuperMod Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: (n) - the place where I am Gender: Posts: 27,659 Thanks: 1,991 Thanked 2,486 Times in 1,513 Posts	^^It was the prose, man! Talk to your wife. ^I think their point was that the Gamecube's flop was nothing in comparison to those other hardware failures. And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

06-02-2011, 08:22 PM	#6
CuccoLady Anime and Cartoons Mod Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: THIS LOCATION REMINDS ME OF A PUZZLE, LUKE Gender: Posts: 9,077 Thanks: 2,825 Thanked 1,222 Times in 822 Posts	I use my Wii to play more Gamecube games than Wii games. >_>

06-02-2011, 08:56 PM	#7
X-3 Useful as an Owl Join Date: Jan 2004 Gender: Posts: 15,943 Thanks: 753 Thanked 1,213 Times in 790 Posts Blog Entries: 10	GCN didn't sell too well but it still provided some great experiences. The items on the list...probably not so much.

06-02-2011, 09:39 PM	#8
*Ace Mercury* Marshmallow Knight ☆ Supermod Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Southern Ontario Gender: Posts: 23,275 Thanks: 568 Thanked 3,297 Times in 1,582 Posts Blog Entries: 1	Oh wow. There are two threads that use the "Fred Savage" tag.

06-03-2011, 12:48 AM	#9
Chaos Deviot The Betrayer Join Date: May 2004 Location: Mt. Moon Gender: Posts: 1,811 Thanks: 171 Thanked 52 Times in 49 Posts Blog Entries: 1	Admittably, the Power Glove is fun for costumes. /Troll But seriously, I have yet to actually use it in a game. I might find it fun, for an rpg, anyway.

06-03-2011, 07:29 AM	#11
*Ace Mercury* Marshmallow Knight ☆ Supermod Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Southern Ontario Gender: Posts: 23,275 Thanks: 568 Thanked 3,297 Times in 1,582 Posts Blog Entries: 1	Yeah, I find it surprising that Nintendo keeps pulling in profits despite the two heavy-hitters in the same field. I think it's because Nintendo is a dedicated gaming company, which means it can adapt to change better than the Sony and Microsoft lumbering aircraft carriers.

06-04-2011, 11:59 PM	#13
Hydronix Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Gender: Posts: 91 Thanks: 33 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	^^^ Never heard of it, oddly enough. Was it third-party?