What the hell is Nintendo's "Megaton" Announcement?
 

Hi all,

For the last few months, I have been waiting for a supposed "megaton" announcement coming from Nintendo and revealed in Famitsu (I believe) before the end of the year. I thought the Game Boy Player was it, but apparantly that is not the case. So what could this megaton announcement be? Any specualtion? And don't get all uppity on speculation, with neither Nintendo nor Famitsu speaking, we can't do anything but speculate.

Here goes:
I think Nintendo is working on some sort of nuclear-fission based handheld console. It's medium will be water and we won't need controllers as we will not be able to telepathically communicate with our games. This makes sense on many levels because A) it doesn't run on batteries, B) it will be hard to be copied by pirates and C) it will be lightyears ahead of whatever cel phone and PDA manufacturers have planned. Naturally an updated Game & Watch game will be the launch title.

Dale

Although the GameCube GameBoy Player makes this unlikely, we could still see the new version of the Gameboy Advance coming out - it's possible that both will have the same hardware, and that part of the development of the GameBoy Player is that they changed the design to allow easier conversion to a TV screen.

Whatever happened to inspections?
 

"Megaton" announcement? Nintendo has nukes too nowadays? Naturally, the balance of power between Nintendo and France must be maintained. Plus, in light of the current situation with "North Vietnam," there isn't any time to waste! (let's hope that they still aren't peeved at that disagreement from 50 years ago) It's going to be a warm winter after all.

Re: What the hell is Nintendo's "Megaton" Announcement?
 

I believe that it's going to be another set of third party announcements, with the key one being Dragon Quest exclusivity. Sorta similar to the Capcom event last week, but with Enix and perhaps Konami or Square. Now, that may not sound like a big deal to us, but it is a huge deal in Japan for sure.

Other people think it might be the Online plan, or Pokemon Online, or something from Konami, but I think it's going to be something from Enix. I've also heard that it might be news of an Online Pokemon GBA game, which would utilize the Game Boy Player peripheral for online play, and also be playable with the portable unit in some other capacity.

Here's a link to some similar speculation, and earlier articles on this site are where I formed my opinion:

http://www.gamesarefun.com/cgi-bin/n...7777111,63724,
Ben

I think Nintendo telling us that there is a "Dark" Zelda in the making would be considered a "Megaton" announcement! Or that Square was bring FF exclusive to GameCube. Maybe Miyamoto is leaving (:-( that would suck)

Well, to add to the DQ rumor, Enix certainly hasn't given anything remotely close to a hint as to the details of DQ8's release so far. Heartbeat won't be making the game this time around, that's for sure. Since they don't typically crank out games with big production graphics and FMV, it would make sense that they'd need an ally this time around. Nintendo of course desperately needs more killer apps in Japan. This could be the perfect fit, a game that would tip the scales and get more Japanese gamers to buy a system than one that most already have (ps2) or one that they wouldn't ever buy (Xbox).

Perhaps... although I'll come right out and say an announcement of a "dark" Zelda does absolutely nothing for me.

Over Sony's dead body.

And Nintendo would annouce this because...? =)

Dale

Re: What the hell is Nintendo's "Megaton" Announcement?
 

Ahhhhh, more fuel for the console war fire.

Whatever it is, it's not going to increase Nintendo's market share significantly towards Sony's. It may serve to bury the XBox deeper into its coffin in Japan but that's about all.

Personally, I couldn't care less. I won't be going online with a console this generation, nor will be I be leaping out my pants to get hold of a Dragon Quest game. So meh...whatever

I say its going to be 3d virtual reality set for the gamecube. Or better yet a 2d mario. I think whatever it is, Nintendo are playing smart by raising some mystery around the cube. Those who are deciding which console to buy this xmas will be enticed.

Kant, your post on this thread and the one on the Hussein thread were hysterical. I've always heard about the "Hitler clause*" for listserves and message boards, but who knew there was an Inreque Iglesias clause too! Great stuff.

*When topics get way off tangent or become a flame war, usually someone will mention Hitler. For whatever reason, the thread is killed instantly. Kant just invoked the Iglesias law... let's hope it works. :D

A single game release could not be considered a "mega-ton announcement" regardless of what franchise it involves. No one game is that influential anymore. This will never be anything like the hype surrounding SMB3 (remember "The Wizard" starring Fred Savage?).

Chances are it will either be a slew of popular game titles (although this is less likely) or a new piece of hardware. As to what that hardware is, one can only speculate, and I'd have no clue. All the "demanded" hardware is already out: GC Modem, GC BBA, and now the GameBoy Player. Yes, it could be a new GBA with backlit screen, but i'm not sure that's such a big thing. One could hope it's some adapter to play all their old cartridges on the GC... but that's not likely either -- Afterall, I think a NES cartridge is bigger than any two dimensions on the GC. The GC is too new for them to announce the release of their next console. So: who knows. We'll have to wait and see.

Dragon Quest in Japan is absolutely still that big. From http://zenithian.tripod.com/aboutdq.htm

"Dragon Quest became so popular (each new game selling millions of copies) that people would not go to school or work to obtain a new game, waiting in long lines for hours.* Because of this, the Japanese government passed a law stating that Dragon Quest games could only be released on a Sunday or holiday."

That's hard for me to conceive of, but it certainly is enough to be a Megaton announcement in Japan.

Ben

Nintendo to go Multi-Platform?
 

That certainly would be a nuclear blast! I doubt it will happen, but it is possible.

Re: Nintendo to go Multi-Platform?
 

That's not a bad point. Nintendo reveiled some financial news this week and it looks like it has taken a beating thanks to a strong yen and lower than expected sales in Japan. But I don't see why it would announce it was going third party months in advance and on top of that do so in the pages of Famitsu magazine.

Dale

Hey Dale nice avatar. Just wanted to tell you that LOL:D