Mailbag - Issue 4

A brand new mailbag answering some new questions. With E3 in sight, keep an eye on Malte's answers...

I believe 1up is wrong on this one in its listing. Back when Square-Enix held their press conference in which they officially announced Final Fantasy III for the Nintendo DS, they also stated that Final Fantasy IV was heading for the Game Boy Advance. At that time, Square-Enix also talked about Final Fantasy V and VI, which would follow number IV by being brought back to life on the Game Boy Advance. Quite recently we also added the first 4 screenshots of the GBA versions of Final Fantasy V and VI.

In one of their articles, 1up confirms the above. Near the end of the article, the author writes "Before he left the stage, Wada mentioned that after the release of the upcoming Final Fantasy IV for GBA, FFV and FFVI will be following the tradition and appearing on the GBA."

FF5 and FF6 will be released for the AGB, at least this was stated by SquareEnix. Watch out for more information later this year.

Yes FFV and FFVI will be on the GBA. 1up is mistaken, looks like somebody overthere messed up.

Boktai 3 for the Game Boy Advance... Well, let's say that Boktai 2 did not sell as well as the people behind it were hoping for. The game was launched in Japan a fair time ago, but there was never an announcement for the United States or Europe (nor Australia). I think it's safe to assume we'll never see Djanko on the Game Boy Advance anymore, we will see Djanko on the Nintendo DS though... Boktai DS was originally announced back in August 2004. Nintendo issued out a press release stating that over 70 different future Nintendo DS titles were in development at that time; Boktai DS being one of them. Up to today, Konami has only once spoken about Boktai DS. In an interview with GameSpot, Hideo Kojima stated that "We are not thinking about PSP actually, but for DS, yes we already have this in the plan, and we have surprises that you can never imagine. And I can't tell you right now what the surprise is, but we do have a big trick up our sleeve, and you are sure to be surprised." The big surprise was said to be revealed during the Tokyo Game Show in September 2005, but all remained silent. I do believe Konami is keeping this title for E3 2006, just a few weeks away from now...

Metroid Dread is a different story: Nintendo never officially confirmed the title. A leaked list of titles Nintendo was about to show during E3 2005 contained many titles that turned out to be true, except for Metroid Dread. Word is, that Nintendo decided not to show the title last year as the title wasn't ready for the crowd yet. Later, development was said to be canned even though Nintendo kept claiming the title never existed. Just a few months ago, the latest edition of ONM (Official Nintendo Magazine) showed the title in the releaselist: TBC 2006. I strongly believe Nintendo will show the title during E3.

About a successor to Advance Wars: Dual Strike. Nintendo introduced the title on the NES as Famicom Wars and continued to grow on the Game Boy (3 different versions), Super NES and Game Boy Advance. Recently, Nintendo also added the spin-off Batallion Wars on the GameCube and the new Nintendo DS version. I can't believe Nintendo won't throw in another version as the Nintendo DS's lifespan will cover at least two more years (as well as a Revolutionary version, which might dig more into a real-time strategy game). My money is on both another Nintendo DS and a Revolution version between one and two years from now.

Sorry, can't say anything on Boktai's part.

Metroid Dread, now heres a tricky one. Before E3 05, a list was sent out of the Nintendo games to be shown at E3 2005. 2 (I think) titles that were on the list did not appear - Metroid Dread and Tetris DS. Of course Tetris DS was cleared up later. Now, after E3, no-one ever heard anything official about Metroid Dread - rumorus are strife that it's cancelled or was never in development in the first place. However, according to my source - the game was just never ready to be shown at last years E3, and will make a definate presence at this years E3.

Boktai 3 was released last summer, at least in Japan. Sadly there were no announcements made concerning a release in Europe or Northern America. Perhaps we will see it at E3, together with Boktai DS which is still in development.

Metroid Dread is definitely not cancelled and will be shown at E3. Expect a release near the end of 2006.

Boktai 3 for the GBA was never brought over here likely due to the very poor sales of Boktai 2, but the game was released in Japan. Metroid Dread is still a mystery, Game Informer had revealed it just before E3 and then said it was canceled a few months later. I do think that a 2D Metroid will make it's way onto the DS, but who knows when now that Metroid Dread is said to be canceled, my advise is to cross your fingers that the game magically reappears at E3 this year now that Metroid Prime Hunters is out.

You're totally right on that one. At the time the DS-x2 staff answered all of the questions, Nintendo did not reveal this bit of information yet. As I was the last one to submit my answers last week, I did however have the knowledge that the Revolution was facing 20 launchtitles (of which approximately one-third being first-party titles), hence my statement in the previous mailbag.

Well Harrison did say 20 titles will make it, but PR interviews aren't exactly 100% (remember NoE denying a new DS model a week before DS Lite was revealed?) right all the time unfortunately. I certainly hope as much as you do that 20 titles make it out for launch with about 7 being from Nintendo.

It definitely seems that way, especially with the recently revealed Red Steel. Many developers have announced their support for the Revolution, and will no doubt continue to grow. The thing is, developers can't just simply port the games to the Revolution, which is either a good thing - or a bad thing. We shall see.

It depends on whether or not the Revolution is succesful. If it is, there's a higher chance of companies wanting to follow suit. If not, then companies likely won't want to copy it. That's how it has almost always worked.

Well I certainly hope so, we've pretty much heard positive things from at least one person in every company out there so far and Red Steel is certainly proof that many 3rd party developers are jumping on board with at least one title for the system. It does seem like Mr.Iwata has learned from his mistakes with the Gamecube and he wasn't president before that, so let's see how Mr.Iwata and Nintendo does with the Revolution starting with what they show at E3.

Pretty high, concidering an F-Zero game has been released for every Nintendo home console since the SNES.

The chances aren't too high after the low sales of F-Zero GP Legend and GX. The European and American release of F-Zero Climax even got cancelled, although we might see the game sooner or later also here.

Well it's one of Nintendo's key franchises so I don't see why not. But personally I think a better question is who will be developing it? Amusement Vision did a really great job with F-Zero AX/GX, so maybe they will be responsible for bringing the franchise to the Revolution as well.

Be sure to ask us more questions through the contact-form. Your question could end up in the next mailbag! Just make sure we don't have to talk about cheese anymore...

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Comments

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  Great jobs, guys! I do hope Metroid Dread is shown at E3 this year... I hope lots of stuff is shown at E3 this year. New Revolution games, or at least have them let us know what franchises will be on there at launch. You guys seem to have different opinions on F-zero, lol. Ben: Pretty high. Malte: Chances aren't too high. Jay: Why not.

  Nintendude, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  Metroid Dread was recently confirmed by NoE members at the Gaming-Age-Forums.

  Malte DS-x2, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  so there IS a Metroid Dread? SWEET! Its been forever since Samus went back to 2d! I'm sure Nintendo will leave everybody surprised at this E3!

  mercurian, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  Well he isn't always accurate Malte, probably because NoE is the last to hear of a change in plans. Which is why NoE's plans change so much so often.

  Jay, 30-11--0001 at 00:00
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  Great mailbag, I learned alot. Dennis is an information mosnter(using quotes!). O_O This mailbag beats IGN's mailbag IMO.

  NPC, 30-11--0001 at 00:00