Game Informer's Billy Berghammer recently interviewed the master of Mortal Kombat, Ed Boon, mostly about
the upcoming Armageddon, which aims to achieve the lofty goal of having every Mortal Kombatant available for
play in one game, but did make a point to inquire about the next generation consoles. When asked if he would be willing
to do a fighting game with the Revolution's remote, Ed had this to say:
"You know, I don’t know how you could. One of the things about the Revolution controller is that you don’t have immediate access to a whole bunch of buttons. It’s like your holding a television remote and you have that directional pad and you have a big A button next to it. But there’s not five or six buttons to give you all of these functions, so maybe they will compensate but tilting one way for blocking or another way for attack. But that is so dramatically different. So it will either be one of the biggest hits in the world or a big failure. I certainly hope it does well."
This brings up an interesting question; will Nintendo have to lay the first stones down to create the path of innovation before third-party developers can change gameplay through the unique mechanics of the Revolution's remote? Do third-party developers need to see the ideas executed first before feeling comfortable attempting them?
[Via QJ Net]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-17-2006 @ 10:30AM
Phronk said...
I can see a lot of fun potential in actually lunging out with the controller to make characters punch. Maybe tilt it in different ways for different punches/kicks. I also see a lot of broken furniture potential.
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3-17-2006 @ 10:33AM
soundboy64 said...
I would've thought they were going to do this all along. This is what I always wanted the Sega (Activator?) to be. All they'd have to do is use the numchuck attachment to physically move the character and then punch would be merely punching with the controller, kick could be hold A and punch with the controller, blocking would be a matter of holding B. What's so hard about that?
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3-17-2006 @ 11:28AM
Jimmy said...
You could strap a controller to each limb. It could have a training mini game where you are ranked on your ability to execute certain moves. The higher your ranking, coupled with your actual accurate execution of moves, could have a bearing on the effectiveness of your blows.
Ok, so the whole four controller idea is a stretch. The point I'm trying to make is that there are many, many ways the new controller mechanism could be translated to a fighting game. Developers who can't think of ONE really should consider another line of work.
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3-17-2006 @ 11:33AM
qrayg said...
I thought the dev units were sent out so that developers could test and see what works. If they need to have their hands held or have the ideas fed to them constantly then I suggest that Nintendo not even allow them to make games for their systems.
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3-17-2006 @ 1:06PM
derfreddy.de said...
mk never stood for good gameplay and now i know why: that boon is one narrow-minded ed.. the thing is u dont need a "bunch of buttons"
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3-17-2006 @ 9:23PM
taddpoll said...
This is just the type of response I would expect from a western developer.
This guy is so devoid of new ideas, that apparently all he can muster is a new Mortal Kombat title. If he can't think of anything, then he doesn't deserve the chance to try.
There are boards flooded with ideas from ordinary people, and this jerk can't come with anything!? Oh My God, theres no buttons!!!!!! What the hell do we do!!!!
Fuck-off Boon!
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3-17-2006 @ 10:28PM
Dar said...
I could be mistaken, or I could be right... On the Revolution, there are 4 inputs that appear remarkably similar to the 4 controler inputs in the GameCube...so this leads me to believe that the console might actually have the ability to use another controler, not just the new rev controller. So they might not be limited to the one controller.
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3-18-2006 @ 12:02PM
Ashley Boyd said...
You're right Dar, not only can GameCube controllers be used (for GameCube games mainly because of backwards compatability) but Nintendo have long been saying there will be a "shell" which the freehand controller can plug into and its just like a normal controller. So why is it that Ed Boon, and many other developers, are saying "Oh its too different we don't know what to do!"
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3-18-2006 @ 2:34PM
tactics said...
yes, thank you ashley. THE SHELL BOON.BR>jesus christ... it seems like every day i find another person who cant get it through their thick skull that revolution will have the option to function just as a normal gamecube wavebird did.
damn i hate people.
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3-18-2006 @ 3:07PM
Kazi said...
Seriously, NINTENDO WOULD NOT DENY DEVELOPERS THE ABILITY TO MULTIPLATFORM WITH THEIR CONSOLE. Multiplatform games are becoming more and more aabundant now that it's harder to make a lot of money by just releasing on one console. This is most likely a reason why Nintendo's not going for a hardware giant like 360 or PS3, so that the budget for their games is a lot less expensive so people who use the controller for a game on the Revolution don't get jipped because they can't multiplatform with their extremely high budget graphics. Nintendo is trying to help the Gaming industry, not screw it over.
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3-18-2006 @ 8:51PM
Sam Goldman said...
A technical question: wouldn't developers have to get their hands on this "shell" before they can develop games using it? If such a shell isn't ready when the Rev is, we won't see games for them immediately, right?
Oh, yeah: Ed Boon's a dumbass.
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3-19-2006 @ 4:39PM
Sean DL said...
Hey, hey, fanboys(girls) he isn't all that bad, just thinking out loud. At lease he said this:
"So it will either be one of the biggest hits in the world or a big failure. I certainly hope it does well.""
And about the shell, Since the shell is pretty much the Gamecube controller, there isn't development time needed before they can develop games. Only tweak the controls..kinda like they do now when they port a game from the PS2 to the X-Box and Gamecube.
I just wonder if anyone is going to use the SNES shell(Or even a Geneses) for games....
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3-23-2006 @ 12:30AM
bd said...
As much as a Nintendo fanboy I am, Im appalled by the ridiculous opinions found here. You know, it's not like boon hates Nintendo; his first games pretty much thrived thanks to Nintendo. He is not dumb either, as he revolutionized fighting games and gaming in general with Mortal Kombat, let alone his studies on Math.
Besides, what makes you all so sure that it will be successful? Yes, the DS is being successful, but don't count your chickens before they hatch. Everyone hopes it does well, including Noob... ahem.. I mean, Boon. Seriously though, fighting games are the games that probably need the most buttons, so the nunchuk would hardly be suitable for Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat... or would it? Since Smash bros looks set to be a launch game, it will likely teach some of the developers how to port fighting games to the revolution (I'd say it should be the hardest genre to port, so after that there'll be hardly any trouble). So cut the crap, people.
Oh, and don't count on "boxing" with two revmotes on Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter. I hope Nintendo doesn't ruin it by making every game become First Person. "First Person Fighter", "First Person Adventure", "First Person Shooter", etcetera.
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