WiseSalesman
12-05-2006, 11:45 PM
...sort of.
According to the new Konami developer's diary (http://wii.ign.com/articles/749/749393p1.html) posted over at IGN, Elebits is going to be the first U.S. released game to take advantage of WiiConnect24 ... although the four-player competitive multi-play will still only be local.
A lot of you were expecting Elebits to be a launch game for the Wii in the US, but it was of course pushed back for a few weeks. I can now tell you the reason for the delay - we've been adding online functionality to the game. In fact, we will be the first Wii Connect 24 game available when Elebits is released next week. While the Wii Connect 24 service is not yet operational in the US, the game will work online whenever Nintendo chooses to begin the service.
So I'm sure you are all wondering exactly how Elebits uses Wii Connect 24. One of the modes in the game is called "Edit Mode." In this mode, players can create their own stages by placing different kinds of objects and Elebits throughout the framework of any of the more than 25 stages in the game. You can also make adjustments to the gameplay such as changing the amount of watts needed for completion, how strong the gravity is, or what kind of items the player can use. The development staff here has had a lot of fun changing the gravity in each level, so I'd recommend that you check it out! You will unlock additional items to place around the level as you achieve certain ranks on each stage in story mode. You'll also be able to take and share screenshots from both the story mode and edit mode. It's always good to send screenshots to your friends via Wii Connect 24 to show them your latest Edit Mode creations.
Not exactly the online play we've all been hoping for, but downloading user-created content is still pretty cool, and I'm fairly certain it's a first for Nintendo, period. This game scored fantastically in Famitsu (of course, so did Red Steel), and now I'm quite looking forward to it. I'll probably be picking this one up on launch, unless something major changes my mind in the interim.
According to the new Konami developer's diary (http://wii.ign.com/articles/749/749393p1.html) posted over at IGN, Elebits is going to be the first U.S. released game to take advantage of WiiConnect24 ... although the four-player competitive multi-play will still only be local.
A lot of you were expecting Elebits to be a launch game for the Wii in the US, but it was of course pushed back for a few weeks. I can now tell you the reason for the delay - we've been adding online functionality to the game. In fact, we will be the first Wii Connect 24 game available when Elebits is released next week. While the Wii Connect 24 service is not yet operational in the US, the game will work online whenever Nintendo chooses to begin the service.
So I'm sure you are all wondering exactly how Elebits uses Wii Connect 24. One of the modes in the game is called "Edit Mode." In this mode, players can create their own stages by placing different kinds of objects and Elebits throughout the framework of any of the more than 25 stages in the game. You can also make adjustments to the gameplay such as changing the amount of watts needed for completion, how strong the gravity is, or what kind of items the player can use. The development staff here has had a lot of fun changing the gravity in each level, so I'd recommend that you check it out! You will unlock additional items to place around the level as you achieve certain ranks on each stage in story mode. You'll also be able to take and share screenshots from both the story mode and edit mode. It's always good to send screenshots to your friends via Wii Connect 24 to show them your latest Edit Mode creations.
Not exactly the online play we've all been hoping for, but downloading user-created content is still pretty cool, and I'm fairly certain it's a first for Nintendo, period. This game scored fantastically in Famitsu (of course, so did Red Steel), and now I'm quite looking forward to it. I'll probably be picking this one up on launch, unless something major changes my mind in the interim.