Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Of course! Playable demos! And I know the issue is space, but they could do something similar to the Metroid Prime 3 Preview channel and just download the bare bones, connecting to the internet to play the game...

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I think the Metroid Month is a step in the right direction for Nintendo fan service and marketing all in one. I've been playing games since the NES came out and Metroid was one of those games (by games, I mean series) that I completely missed out on in favor of other franchises such as Mario, Mega Man, Contra and so on. Until now - I recently purchased the NES VC Metroid and already feel myself getting sucked into the game.

Unrelated to Metroid, I'd like to see some Smash Bros demo channels in the coming months. I'm sure it's on their list, in addtion to the possible 130 weekday updates remaining until the game's Dec 3 release.

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They definitely could do more of these and I would be surprised if they didn't do a Mario Month as well.

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I love this thing they should do it for smash bros and mario kart and stuff too
but next time they should put a playable demo on it instead of just videos

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@ #2: Don't be so certain Nintendo has a demo on their list of updates at this point. I mean, I have my doubts all the updates are listed out even (unless it was kept within Sakurai's mind, chances are the entire list would leak at some point), and Nintendo has little reputation for demos... the GameCube had three publicly distributed demo discs in its lifetime, and Wii has had no demos whatsoever. The Metroid Prime 3 Preview channel alone exceeds their reputation. Still, we can keep our fingers crossed... (Oh, and there remains the fact Metroid is not quite as well known as Super Smash Bros, which even casual gamers and non-gamers may know and have played, so they may feel Brawl has enough hype. Hope they decide to be nice and let us demo it anyways!)

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Oh, and 74 updates counting today's, not 130. Weekends don't update.

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I agree, step in the right direction. But it could be a lot better. I've seen Wii commercials everywhere - amid almost every TV program and in just about every magazine (my mom found one in Good Housekeeping!)... but MP3:C got nothing. Also, if you REALLY wanted people to get excited for VC game releases they would be free or at least discounted from the full price. Finally, Nintendo needs to make USB storage usable so downloadable videos and demos can be made available.

I'd give Metroid month a 6/10 for getting me excited for Corruption, but it could be so much more.

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@#5 you conveniently forgot that the ds has download staions in every walmart, kmart, target, and even Disney world was it?? maybe airports anyway, Nintendo definitely seems into demos?? Their most recent system shows that. they just need to get some bigger save space...

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a demo is not totally out of the picture. If nintendo were to release one it would be the last update before the game released and if they followed their schedule so far that would be monday the 27th technically since we cant buy it till the 28th. Thats also a perfect date because that gives gamers a day to play it and demo it and then decide if they want to buy.

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I've been really disappointed with what information there has been through official channels. If you go to the metroid web site and click on MP:C3, you get ... nothing. You have to go to an IGN or NWF or someone in order to get any screenshots, video, or text that isn't blatant marketing-speak.

And this, in general, is my problem with Nintendo's marketing strategy. Other than SSBB, I find their web site to be heavy on flash and light on content, and I don't expect that to get any better.

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I would've liked at least a 5 minute long playable demo, and I think that sort of thing should be expected from such a high caliber game, unless, of course, it's utter shit, but they want the hype up, thus, no demo. But I doubt it.

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Shadow31:
You're right, it's not 130 weekdays (thankfully), but neither is it 130 total days. It's actually 105 days. So, basically my math was just wrong either way (even though I actually was attempting to discount weekends).

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I would like to see them add an interactive timeline of the games, or at least a history behind the series. That would get new gamers interested in the series and also remind us where all the games fit into the series storylines.

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I feel this has been done to reassure the hardcore Nintendo fans, so that Nintendo can say "Yes, we are still here to care for the people who sustained us through the dark GC days" or something like that.

But as for demos, in lieu of any kind of HDD storage, they would have to be streamed off the internet, it would make for beastly load times, but loading from the internet straight to the RAM would circumvent the storage problem

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@5:
I really don't think that Smash Bros. is more well-known than Metroid is, especially with the non-gamer crowd... if anything, people who played an NES back in the day know what Metroid is, but only N64 and GC fans have actually heard of Smash Bros.

If they'd just do a video channel for Smash Bros. at some point I'd be happy. If only Nintendo didn't shoot themselves in the foot with the lousy 512MB of storage, maybe we could have some gameplay demos! Come out with an HDD already!

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This marketing feels a little rush to me; I believe Nintendo pretends to compete against Halo 3 launch. I don’t think it will be commonly use unless turns out to be a huge success, but they can sure use it anyway on “Super Mario Galaxies” or try it out on a new franchise like “Project H.A.M.M.E.R.”.

I also believe that some third developers are interested on trying this or something similar.

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#13: Nintendo already made an interactive timeline.

Some Metroid Prime games are 2 discs, because before Metroid 2: Echoes, they released Prime 1 with an extra disc to promote Metroid 2. The 2nd disc came with a timeline, trailer, preview, art galleries, and a demo.

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I hope for playable demos, and there is a good chance they do it, I know space is an issue but here is my theory:

The DS download stations in walmart and various other electronic stores had DS downloadable demos, and when you turned your system off, the game was Gone. The Wii could have demos you load online, then when you turn the demo off (or your wii if that works) then the game goes away, that way we could try out games!

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@Andrew, those games go into RAM, which would also be used to run the demo. The Wii just doesn't have enough RAM to both hold an entire demo and to run it.

Unless you want a demo of MP3:C with one room and no enemies.

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#5: I realized Nintendo has those download stations, but every console has demo stations at most stores that carry their products. I was talking about demos you can actually play anytime. You have to go out to download those demos. Have they had downloadable demos for the DS or Wii? No. Even demo discs have been scarce.

#12: I didn't think your math wrong, figured it was an estimate, but 130 seemed overshooting the amount of updates by far. And I got curious how many updates there really was.

#15: Maybe it depends on your area, but I know plenty of non-gamers who have happened to play Smash Bros, it's such a party game, most parties I go to have it, and tournaments are everywhere. It's possibly as widely hyped as the Halo series. Metroid is not a party game, therefore less people will play it at a friend's house. Multiplayer games can promote themselves a lot easier. Not to mention Metroid is more of a hardcore gamer series... the people who are no longer gamers but once played Metroid hardly seem to realize the series is still around; older gamers I talk to can't believe they've brought the series back after it sorta died on out on the SNES.

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#19: If it had that little RAM, no rooms could even have enemies, and each room would have to load one by one. Most likely, if they released Wii demos, they would load right off the internet into the RAM at the same rate the game would. Meaning you would have to remain connected to play. May not seem the best, but it's basically what they do with the Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Preview channel. They'd probably have some sort of Demo Channel. *hint hint*

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