ONM says 'world exclusive' not April Fools prank

by Alexander Sliwinski { Mar 19th 2007 at 1:00AM }

Yesterday we reported Official Nintendo Magazine created quite the hype-storm surrounding a cluster of stars and touting "world exclusive" information about a returning franchise. The European magazine owned by Future publications, in hopes of calming things down a bit, had ONM Editor Chandra Nair make a statement on Future's website.

Nair says this whole brouhaha is not an April Fools joke and goes on to say, "Inevitably the situation might change between the time of the mag going to print and the release of the next issue (it is a good six weeks after all). The game may end up being announced online before we hit the shelves. Occasionally these things happen and it's completely out of our control. However, the point is that we are not misleading you -- there is a new game due to be announced."

Wait, how will it be announced online if they supposedly have the "world exclusive" in the magazine? Sounds like damage control is kicking into gear. While wild rumors are being thrown around, a source of ours in the U.K., heard from a product manager at Sega Europe, that NiGHTS Wii has been in development for six months already and that the recent Sega poll was designed to reassure Sega that its decision to resurrect NiGHTS is shrewd.

Tags: exclusive, nights, onm, rumors

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sensai @ Mar 19th 2007 1:16AM

FUCKIN' MAKE IT HAPPEN.

zomg zomg zomg zomg zomg zomg zomg zomg zomg zomg zomg

.....

Ok, leaving rambling mode and into more mature mode. And...go.

I think it's obvious by this point that it's not a hoax. Whether it's something as big as NiGHTS, well, that's a different matter. But the fact is that there is, without a doubt now, something brewing.

And it's on the Wii. That's a good thing.

Brandon J. @ Mar 19th 2007 1:17AM

I honestly don't see this ending well. Mabye because Nintendo fans are the most vulnurable to hype. What ever is eventally announced either via the net or the magizine I beleive that some people are going to walk away dissapointed.

tmmoore_nc @ Mar 19th 2007 1:24AM

A new game, huh? NiGHTS is way too obvious though. Especially since that picture doesn't include all of the big stars lit up. I'm honestly expecting Earthbound, though I haven't seen anything in regards to that picture.

delldude420 @ Mar 19th 2007 1:39AM

come on sega, make a big announcement for nightts and the virtual console.

new nights for wii

also sega saturn games downloadable via wii with original nights and christmas nights demo being downloadable to wii users who purchase nights for wii.

also sega msater system gamegear , sega cd and 32x games added to the nintendo vc :)

Nicholas Sulikowski @ Mar 19th 2007 1:43AM

Heh, this reminds me of the time they announced the game Bob Ross: The Joy of Paining for the Wii on March 31st, and they had to keep telling people, despite the hilariousness and unbelievability of the title, it wasn't an april fools joke.

samfish @ Mar 19th 2007 1:46AM

*does happy dance*

I have now officially set myself up to be absolutely crushed if this turns out to be anything other than NiGHTS.
...even if it's a new Kid Icarus.

dxprog @ Mar 19th 2007 2:01AM

Final Fantasy XIII Wii FTW!

The Incredible Source! @ Mar 19th 2007 2:10AM

I heard from a friend of a friend who knows the cousin of the guy making the new Nights game for the Wii: it will be released this year.

jimjo @ Mar 19th 2007 2:25AM

I wasnt one of the few who purchased the saturn,I had a ps. But my homie Taters had one and nights was the only game i played on it.I still dream in nights mode today.If they could bring us a 360 version id be fit for dying.

Probot @ Mar 19th 2007 2:38AM

"Wait, how will it be announced online if they supposedly have the "world exclusive" in the magazine?"

Because people don't always honor NDAs. That's why Kotaku knew about Playstation Home and why everyone already knows about the new Xbox 360 system.

Since the letter didn't mention Nights at all, and that was by far the most rumored game, I think it's a decent guess to say that's what will be unveiled.

I never played it, but it seems to have a decent reputation.

Andrew Hsieh @ Mar 19th 2007 2:46AM

So, being a non-Saturn owner (apparently one of the few, just looking at the multitudes of people on the intarwebs who keep claiming and saying that NiGHTS into Dreams is the best game ever), can I ask a question that's probably been asked already?

What's so cool about this game?

SynikaL @ Mar 19th 2007 2:52AM

I'd like to add that I don't think the idea of a "world exclusive" synonymous between the online media and magazine publications. If I'm not mistaken, even though EGM is touting their Rachet and Clank cover story as a world exclusive, the online media has been talking about the game for a few weeks.

-Kimosabae

daniel @ Mar 19th 2007 2:54AM

itll be like their battalion wars 2 exclusive when they printed it they didnt know it would be at leipzig, but they still had a lot of information and screenshots that havent been anywhere else

Thundernad @ Mar 19th 2007 3:27AM

Anyone play monkey ball for the wii? There is a mini game where you control birds flying through rings... imo it could definitely be used, (with some refinement), for a new nights game control scheme. Just a random thought I had while playing monkey ball, and then I saw this article... =P

Steve @ Mar 19th 2007 5:58AM

"What's so cool about this game?"

Damn if I know. Seriously, the only people on the planet who want another game in this series is the few people who read this web site I think.

If this was such a huge, popular series there would have been a sequel years ago. Nights is one of those geek-click kinda things that makes you cool in the nerd world.

kevinski @ Mar 19th 2007 6:17AM

There once was a time when I wanted to play NiGHTs, but - honestly - the more that I saw game play footage of it, the less I wanted to play it. I just don't understand its appeal. I mean, you spend the majority of the game flying through rings. I must say that I love the music that I've heard from the game, though.

Wilbur @ Mar 19th 2007 6:30AM

"I mean, you spend the majority of the game flying through rings. I must say that I love the music that I've heard from the game, though."

Sounds like the typical Wii game.. perfect for its demographic; nice and simple, now.

kevinski @ Mar 19th 2007 6:43AM

Typical Wii game? Well, yeah...when you consider the fact that NiGHTS supposedly plays just fine with the Saturn's 3D Controller, yet is - for some reason - inevitably going to end up with motion controls on Wii. Of course, I seem to remember somebody saying that NiGHTS had originally been designed with motion controls in mind, so it's very likely that NiGHTS is the project that is in development.

Myke @ Mar 19th 2007 6:44AM

Sorry guys, but if you haven't played NiGHTS then you don't have any reason to criticize. I'm sure you own plenty of games that you love but if someone asked you to put the experience into words to PROVE that it's a good game, you wouldn't be able to do it. You make a pretty generalized statement by saying "You just fly through hoops most of the time." And yeah, that may be true, but what makes Metal Gear a good series, I mean you just spend most of your sneaking around, sounds pretty blah to me... And why do people like Halo? All you do is run around and shoot stuff, not exactly a new spin on anything, I mean I've been running around and shooting stuff since Doom, zomg lolz!!!1!!111!!111 So seriously, just play the game, if you don't like it then you don't like it, but if you do (and the chances of that are pretty good) then at least you'll know why.

Tarnished Halo @ Mar 19th 2007 6:46AM

What I loved about NiGHTS was the whole score attack idea. The game was like a side scrolling racing game. But the goal was not to finish in time but to get the highest score.

Firstly you had to free him/her from the cage thing. Which was only possible once you collected enough orbs (If I remember correctly)

But then it got real fun. Once NiGHTS was free his/her goal was to race to the finish line before the time ran out. But the quicker you free NiGHTS the more time you had to pick up extra points. You could actually fly past the finish line to do another lap of the level to increse your score. The levels were created in a way that you could chain your collection of orbs. And in some levels you could chain into multi-lap scores. But it meant nothing if you didn't get to the finish line before your time ran out. Which often led to mad dashes to the finish.

Also instead of freeing NiGHTS from his/her cage you could run around inside your dream world which was where the 3D gameplay came in. Feeding and raising your Chaos (think Sonic Adventure but not crap).
When you did loops and the like as NiGHTS you could suck up some of the Chaos that youd raised with kids. Making the little cute buggers fear you. It was an ace side game while not indulging in the score attack aspect of the title. And while all this was going on you was constantly being chased by a crazy clock trying to wake you up and out of your dream.

It's THE perfect game for online leaderboards. I've got all hyped about this game all over again just by writing about it. Now all I need is a Wii.

Jake @ Mar 19th 2007 9:00AM

You know, April Fool's Day is a great day to drop a huge megaton true news story. Then, you don't really confirm it isn't a joke. You just let the fanboys get into a frenzy over it. They should have announced Nights on April 1, then waited until like the 10th to confirm it.

sheppy @ Mar 19th 2007 9:43AM

If you don't understand NiGHTS, then you don't understand Flow or Katamari Damacy. NiGHTS is best besigned as a game that's simply a joy to play. There is a purpose and goal but the longer you focus on that, the less fun you have.

But having said that, I would much rather see Sega resurrect something like Jet Set Radio or Burning Rangers than NiGHTS. NiGHTS really seems a one trick pony and we've seen it's trick for a while now.

Myke @ Mar 19th 2007 9:54AM

A virtual futuristic Tokyo where roving gangs of taggers are constantly battleing over territory...count me in for a MMO Jet Set Radio.

Yoshi Likes Boys @ Mar 19th 2007 10:50AM

Between the first good console Sonic in forever and this possibility, the Nintendo-Sega alliance is REALLY starting to work for me. Hopefully Sonic in SSBB is the next step.

sheppy @ Mar 19th 2007 11:09AM

@Myke

Yeah, boiy. I would love to see a system where you join a gang and challenge various other gangs at stuff like that wonderful sports game in JSRF. Riding strong, tags which require teamwork to convert, and even the police as NPC enemy characters.

Myke @ Mar 19th 2007 11:16AM

Sheppy - That would be pretty awesome, and when another gang is in your territory they'd be subjected to whatever song you choose and it'd be played into thier headsets. Hahahaha, wow, how evil would that be! Here comes the enemy taggers, a group of four and they're cruising down the street towards my gang's corner and they break a certain radius of my gang and all of a sudden into thier headsets: "This MUSIC just TURNS me ONonononononon..." God, I hated that song...

sheppy @ Mar 19th 2007 11:31AM

As an owner of both JSR soundtracks, I loved most of the music. Of course, should we suddenly come under seige, custom MP3s would be nice. That way, I can use psychological warfare and crank Ninja Rap.

kevinski @ Mar 19th 2007 11:33AM

@Myke

Hahahaha...I like that song. I'd force the opposing team to listen to Dragula, personally. *cringes*

Anyway, an MMO Jet Grind Radio game would be pretty awesome. They should bring back the more complex tagging method (having to perform actual motions to complete tags), as well as allow you to use your Mii's during the game.

Of course, in that Sega poll, I voted for Streets of Rage, so I'd rather have a new SoR installment than anything. Well, of the choices that they gave us, anyway.

sheppy @ Mar 19th 2007 11:38AM

@kevinski

Rob Zombie rules you poser freak.

sheppy @ Mar 19th 2007 11:48AM

I really wish Joystiq would institute a username password system. My imposter is getting rather annoying lately.

sheppy @ Mar 19th 2007 11:50AM

It's a real problem when somebody keeps wrecking my good name. I don't appreciate this at all.

Plaid Ninja @ Mar 19th 2007 12:01PM

If there's no re-release of the original I'll have no reason to bother with this title. Why would I want to play a sequel when I've never played the original? I can't be the only person who never picked up a Saturn.

Andrew GO @ Mar 19th 2007 12:41PM

Oh hell yeah

nepos13 @ Mar 19th 2007 1:02PM

The demon Cat Boss battle, where you had to fly in a circle around the room. Most enjoyable! The speed of NIGHTs was impressive for its time, far faster than sonic when you got a good boost going. I also liked the music. Personally I would like to see a re release or a remake of Chakan (sp) the forever man myself but NIGHTS will do.

ssuk @ Mar 19th 2007 1:33PM

As much as I am in favour of a new NiGHTS game, I don't trust new Sonic Team to do the title justice. =/

kevinski @ Mar 19th 2007 1:39PM

@sheppy

So, you're not a Dragula fan like your imposter? :P

Mr Khan @ Mar 19th 2007 4:30PM

The cynic in me says: "Yeah, that's the way to REALLY pull a class-A April Fool's joke. Insure that everything is real, then on April 1st, NOT!"

The optimist in me says: "This would kick ass"

And sheppy said it best: NiGHTS is a joy to play, although i missed out on the Saturn and was forced to play the game with relatives, and never got an oppurtunity to own it (E-bay rates = insane, especially for the Saturn itself)

Plus the game is simply a SEGA fanboys fantasy come true, and yes, it does kind of qualify as Gamer nerd chic