NiGHTS to have weather effects
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Apr 4th 2007 at 4:00AM }
Looks like Sega is trying to stage a comeback. After years of wading in a pool of mediocrity, there is a feeling of change in the air. Following the announcement of NiGHTS for the Wii, details are starting to emerge that Sega is actually putting -- oh, what's the word -- effort behind the new game. The most striking being the use of the Wii's Forecast Channel to change scenery based on real-world conditions.NiGHTS will also have three masks (Dragon, Dolphin and Rocket) giving shape-shifting abilities. There will be seven dream worlds and using Wii Connect 24 players will be able to "exchange items with friends." Sega has burned us too many times in recent years for us to be optimistic about the new NiGHTS; however, we must admit we are in a state of cautious optimism. We'll be happy if NiGHTS doesn't add fuel to the Wiimote control issues fire.
[Via SegaNerds, Thanks Chris]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rfom @ Apr 4th 2007 4:10AM
"use of the Wii's Forecast Channel to change scenery based on real-world cond"
That sounds fabulous, if implemented well..think about it, snowstorm outside and in the game at the same time!
And whats with the "wiimote control issues"? Maybe its a fad (I believe so) but it DOES work well..
If its referring to the MS "no kick ass games" message..wii has Zelda, 100% backward compatibilty and the most awesome build quality / service and support...compare that to 360 - ZERO good exclusives on 360 for almost a year, pathertic BC and the most defective console in history
Champloo @ Apr 4th 2007 4:50AM
For the love of all that is holy Joystiq, shut up. Stop bringing up that damn Wii control issues topic in every other post! We now have 3 or 4 ongoing arguments about that in various comment threads. It's a good topic, definitely worth discussing, but not all the time, and not everywhere.
If things keep going the way they're going you might as well rename this place "www.dowiicontrolswork.com" *sigh*.
Duncan @ Apr 4th 2007 4:50AM
That does sound very cool. Hopefully, Nintendo will have given me a reason to buy a Wii by then. It seems as if it will be a race between Nintendo and Sony to convince me to buy their console....
Kye @ Apr 4th 2007 5:16AM
"...using Wii Connect 24 players will be able to "exchange items with friends.""
Nintendo will you please stop this exchanging items with your friends crap and just give us online play already?
I don't want to send codes or items or whatever, I want to play against people!
Somebody high up must really have a phobia of online play or something. You guys really are dragging your heels.
SecretCow @ Apr 4th 2007 5:25AM
Stop complaining about friends codes... Nintendo is bringing Xfire to the Wii so there goes all your "friend code" worries.
Looi @ Apr 4th 2007 5:57AM
Real-time weather change?! :D
ALH @ Apr 4th 2007 6:56AM
'use of the Wii's Forecast Channel to change scenery based on real-world conditions.'
thats fair enough if youre in an exciting part of the world..but in dingy grey old britain when we actually do get some sun sitting inside playing on a games console is the last thing on many a mind :p
Bluebreaker @ Apr 4th 2007 7:10AM
In the SW States where I live it's just sun, sun, sun. But if they went for a touch more realism and added wind effects NiGHTS would be blown all over the damn place.
PhrawzT @ Apr 4th 2007 7:29AM
That's awesome. I can't wait to see that in action.
Ben Tremblay @ Apr 4th 2007 7:51AM
Don't hold your breath. Weather effects? I mean it's the Wii we're talking about here, it's not going to be a technical showcase.
CJ @ Apr 4th 2007 8:00AM
If i remember correctly the original black and white game had this feature (looking up the weather for your area), although i never got it to work properly :), that and accessing your outlook contacts list to populate the vilages with your friends.
Still sitting on the fence with the wii, although getting one to compliment my 360 is becoming more and more tempting, i need something intuative that friends can play when they come round. Paper mario might tip the balance tho.
Jack of No Trades @ Apr 4th 2007 8:12AM
The weather effects will look like the ones in Animal Crossing.
Jack of No Trades @ Apr 4th 2007 8:14AM
,but anyways I can't believe they posted this only for the fact that there will be weather effects. Cheap ass system.
deaftly @ Apr 4th 2007 8:16AM
who cares how shitty the wiimote is, the main topic should be how is sega going to fuck up another game series that wasnt even that great to begin with
me @ Apr 4th 2007 8:52AM
This just seems like a dumb idea. It snows maybe once a year where I live . . . who wants to wait all year for some frickin' in-game snow?
LongshotX @ Apr 4th 2007 9:08AM
Damn I Wish was coming to a system with a much more capable architecture and a traditional control sceme like the 360. I had the original Nights and nothing was better than flying with the Sega Saturn Analog Thumb Pad, it was seemless and highly accurate. I think Wii controls is just going to make things even more tedious.I don't know why but I feel like Sega is going to fuck this up.
32_Footsteps @ Apr 4th 2007 9:22AM
Maybe you can make it so that the game gives you weather effects in other locales. "Yeah, feel like playing a winter level today - set it for Antartica."
Jake @ Apr 4th 2007 9:24AM
Not to be a pessimist, but Sega doesn't exactly have a good track record lately, especially with old franchises. And why does the inclusion of likely very basic weather effects linked to the wiither channel prove Sega is actually putting in effort?
Isn't that part of the point of the Wii strategy? You don't have to put very much effort into a game, er, I mean it has lower development costs.
lol at you guys bitching that weather linked to your local weather will get repetitive and boring. I live in Minnesota. It was 84F a week ago and sunny. This morning, it is 15F, windy, and snowy. For us, Nights w/ local weather would be kind of sweet. Although cold and snow for 6 months straight would get boring.
Ben E @ Apr 4th 2007 1:04PM
So based on how often the Forecast Channel updates, I'll be playing NiGHTS with 6 hours old weather effects?
Slaziman @ Apr 4th 2007 9:39AM
It's called the FORECAST channel, not the WEATHER channel, hence it's not updated real-time! The FORECASTS are pretty accurate though.
Neal @ Apr 4th 2007 10:10AM
Since this will be apparently linked to the forcast thing on the Wii, those of you who have boring weather, there will probably be a way of changing it in game. Afterall, not everyone will be connected to Wii Connect 24
Kenny @ Apr 4th 2007 10:14AM
"Nintendo will you please stop this exchanging items with your friends crap and just give us online play already?"
Umm.. They are! Battallion Wars II, Mario Strikers, and Pokemon are all confirmed for online play.
JodyAnthony @ Apr 4th 2007 10:11AM
wow, there is only like three comments out of 22 that is positive about the game, and 19 bitching about the wii. grow up, people. the only thing 'kiddie' about the wii is you people constantly bitching about it for no reason. Shouldn't you be 'mature' enough that you dont have to complain about a stupid bunch of plastic and metal all day every day? thats why you have the ps3 or 360, right? because you're 'mature'? why don't you start showing some of this supposed maturity?
Bambino @ Apr 4th 2007 2:02PM
So I'm guessing that if I buy the game, I'll never get to play in a snowy level, huh? That sucks; I live in the Caribbean.
Jonathan Tran @ Apr 4th 2007 10:18AM
The original NiGHTS changed some things based on Time of Day in the internal clock
Christmas NiGHTS went all out, doing hour-based changes but also changing the game based on the time of year and for specific holidays. It kicked ASS.
deepfriedarjun @ Apr 4th 2007 10:27AM
"NiGHTS will also have three masks (Dragon, Dolphin and Rocket) giving shape-shifting abilities."
"You can play as Sonic, Shadow or Silver."
game over, Sega...this will finish whatever was left of your company.
Jack of No Trades @ Apr 4th 2007 10:31AM
WOW! They added weather effects!!!! Have not seen those before in a game. Your standards are so low that Nintendo can incorporate a feature that has been around for a long time and it gets treated as if its new to gaming. This is not newsworthy.
JodyAnthony @ Apr 4th 2007 10:36AM
jack, its weather effects based on real life weather, which is quite different than "if random number = 7, rain"
Jack of No Trades @ Apr 4th 2007 10:38AM
I thought the Wii Forecast channel refreshes every 6 hours.
Sunjammer @ Apr 4th 2007 11:44AM
WHAT WIIMOTE CONTROL ISSUES FIRE!?!
Jesus fucking christ man! Stop rubbing your own ignorance in the face of the world!
Sidepocket @ Apr 4th 2007 5:39PM
@ Jack of No Trades
I though the 360 Marketplace would alow you to design game levels and content that "Mrs. Jane" the casual gamer could sell.
Forget E3 05?
Vegan @ Apr 4th 2007 12:25PM
I live in L.A., so the weather effects might as well be non-existant.
LongshotX @ Apr 4th 2007 12:25PM
I don't think weather effects tied to the Wii Weather Channel are anything to go crazy over nor do I think they are anything special. The Sega Saturn utilized weather effects during certain times using its internal clock. It was a very effective tool especially in Christmas Nights, but I don't think these weather effects for the Wii version will be any better. Weather usually tends to be relatively stable over the course of days, weeks even. I think the chance of me seeing a snowfall in Florida would be tremendously slim, just as much as I think a New York Wii owner would probably never see a hurricane, or a huge torrential downpour, or a tornado even.
With that said I also don't think the Wiimote will be an effective means of manuevering Nights. As a Sega Saturn owner I bought the game with the Saturn Analog Controller and it was highly accurate, precise, and very responsive. The triggers on either side also helped because I could perform aerial manuevers with ease; with a quick CLICK!. The controller was so seamless I forgot I was even holding it. I don't feel as if the Wiimote could accomplish this. Pointing won't help a Nights Game and the O-K analog stick on the Nunchuck won't add too much either. To have a good Nights you need a solid gamepad with L-R triggers and a solid Analog.
Either way it goes I wish Sega would utilize Next Gen Hardware to fully push Nights to its limits. The Sega Saturn pulled off some amazing effects with Nights, and I got a glimpse of things to come on the Nights table in Sonic Adventure. Sadly Nights never came to Dreamcast. So I think given Segas recent track record and other Wii 3rd party developers this will be a disaster for Nights as Sega attempts to cash in on the Wii craze.
samfish @ Apr 4th 2007 12:34PM
"WOW! They added weather effects!!!! Have not seen those before in a game. Your standards are so low that Nintendo can incorporate a feature that has been around for a long time and it gets treated as if its new to gaming. This is not newsworthy."
Enjoy not playing then, Jack.
Such irrational hatred makes me kind glas it's wii exclusive.
...especially since it was originally meant for the 360 and PS3, supposedly.
Revo @ Apr 4th 2007 12:39PM
"28. "NiGHTS will also have three masks (Dragon, Dolphin and Rocket) giving shape-shifting abilities."
"You can play as Sonic, Shadow or Silver."
game over, Sega...this will finish whatever was left of your company."
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. Are you seriously trying to make the shapeshifting abilities out to be a bad thing? At least wait until you see the game in action before criticizing its gameplay elements.
Steve Galgas @ Apr 4th 2007 12:49PM
Nice! I've been waiting for game developers to start integrating things like a system's internal clock and the weather channel into something other than Animal Crossing (Ooh! Local weather in Animal Crossing! What an idea!)
rinks @ Apr 4th 2007 1:31PM
Sonic Team sucks now, though. Is Yuji working on it? If not, I don't have high hopes for it.
samfish @ Apr 4th 2007 1:38PM
Yuji Naka, it seems to me, has been the whole problem with Sonic team.
The fact that he ISN'T working on it gives me high hopes.
ZeroCorpse @ Apr 4th 2007 2:13PM
NiGHTS was just Ecco the Dolphin, retooled, in the air instead of in the sea. I hated it for being insanely boring on the Saturn, and I can't imagine it's gotten better with age.
Ooh. Can you go through THIS hoop now? Yay! Now try another one! Yay.
It's like Dora the Explorer started designing video games.
rocko @ Apr 4th 2007 2:32PM
hmm, out of all the flying things they could have chosen for masks, they chose a dragon, a dolphin, and a rocket?
dragon=panzer dragoon
dolphin=ecco the dolphin
rocket=i don't know, but it better be faster than everything else
Thad @ Apr 4th 2007 2:36PM
At first this sounded impressive.
Then I remembered I live in Phoenix.
shinneri @ Apr 4th 2007 4:12PM
Will the Sega hating ever end?! Any one saying Sega doesn't try anymore (besides being an idiot) hasn't played Yakuza.
And the people that played the first game and actually have an understanding of it at all will tell you "Shapeshifting" is nothing new to NiGHTS. You turned into a mermaid type thing (DOLPHIN) and a sled thing (possibly rocket..) in the original game.
Mr Khan @ Apr 4th 2007 4:36PM
Damn, the Nintendo haters are out in force today
More and more i find myself compelled to just start using VGcharts.org for my mainstream gaming news
Discussions there stay relatively civil, at least
Of course i find this feature interesting, especially since i live in a seasonal climate (Western Pennsylvania)
This rather expresses that SEGA is trying to re-capture the glory of the original NiGHTS, integrating all the old features and just upgrading the graphics and controls. Since they haven't released a NiGHTS in 11 years (unless you count bonus content for linking GBA to PSO), they don't have to introduce new elements or gimmicks...
A person @ Apr 4th 2007 6:47PM
Cautious optimism indeed. Part of me goes "Hey, Nights was great. Sequel = Instant Awesome." The other part goes "Come on. These people screwed up Sonic. Imagine what else they could destroy."
But, hey. This definitely looks to be a step in the right direction.
V1L3 @ Apr 5th 2007 12:28AM
"Ooh. Can you go through THIS hoop now? Yay! Now try another one! Yay."
It always makes me chuckle when people criticize NiGHTS, because it's painfully obvious that they were no good at it.
The first few times you play NiGHTS, it seems pretty average. It's only once you start getting GOOD at the game and memorizing the level layout (like a racing game) that it goes from average-to-awesome.
Did it take you more than one-tenth of a second to go through each of those "hoops?" 200 of them in a row without missing a beat, despite the physics-bending acrobatics you had to pull off to do it? Defeat Reala in less than 10 seconds?
If not, you have no rights to criticize the game. Much like Sonic, if you weren't playing it at light-speed, you weren't playing it at all.