Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Nintendo speaking in riddles?



It seems that Nintendo really is speaking in riddles. At least, they are openly toying with us. A recent press release on the Nintendo press server reads thus:
The fourth quarter of 2006 will herald a new era for Nintendo with the launch of its remarkable new Wii™ home video game system. But that's not what this news item is about! How could that be, you ask? Perhaps the secret to the launch information for Wii is somehow encoded in the text of this news item. You might want to pore over it for a few hours before staying up all night to debate phraseology and comma placement with your friends online. Or maybe it's all just a scam to get you to read the other games we have launching this fall. One of the two. (...)

For Nintendo GameCube™ owners, The Legend of Zelda®: Twilight Princess will be available for you this fall. An enhanced version also will be a launch title for Wii. That will all happen on … Oh look, we're out of space.
Now, there are surprisingly few theories on the kind of code possibly used to hide a subtext in this press release.

In fact, the only theory I found was courtesy of Gaming Target. Read for yourself:
The fourth quarter begins on October 1. Now look at the list. At least one game is released every Monday in the fourth quarter except for the following dates: October 2, November 20 and November 27.

November 27 is after Black Friday, so it's out. November 20 is after the launch of the PS3, so that's out too. That leaves us with October 2.

The Wii will launch on October 2, you read it here first.



They are right, all dates given are Mondays. However, their logic in discounting November 20th and 27th is not exactly elegant. For example, why wouldn´t it be Black Friday? That´s precisely the kind of day you would want to launch a console. And who said that Wii would definitely launch before the PlayStation3?

Also, how could the actual launch dates for those titles compose a riddle? Do you think Nintendo arranged the launch dates with regard to forming such a subtext when these games could actually have been launched earlier? That appears very doubtful. I am positive that we can discount this approach.

Now, I have tried a number of possible alternatives. In my mind, the strongest clue (if there really are clues here, at all) is to be found in the end. The text ends with the sentence ´Oh look, we're out of space.´ Now, these guys are free to write their press releases as long as needs be. How could they be out of space - unless there was some kind of significant limit? So, I checked the word count of the article and here´s what I came up with:

Entire text:
Word count: 320
Characters (without spaces): 1477
Characters (with spaces): 1783

Text without last sentence:
Word count: 308
Characters (without spaces): 1396
Characters (with spaces): 1691

Text without last sentence and headline:
Word count: 295
Characters (without spaces): 1337
Characters (with spaces): 1620

Though this is getting into splitting hairs, it´s worth noting that the character count on the pure article (i.e. without headline and last sentence) is 1337. This number usually signifies Leet, a simple code language, substituting alphanumerical characters with numerical ones.

But how could this be a clue? The entire text translated into Leet may be full of numbers, but they don´t appear to make any sense. So this approach must be discounted, too.

I also tried anagram software on some of the more suspicious sentences. But that didn´t help, either.

There is one much simpler approach, though. Simply check the text for blatant clues and the first two words of the text read ´the fourth´, which would relate to November. It may just be as simple as that.

The only other viable alternative is that there is no subtext in the statement. After considering all the theories above, this is the conclusion I invariably come to.

But I am sure there are people on the net with more ideas and more time on their hands. I am intrigued what people come up with in the next few days and weeks. Happy hunting, people.

EDIT Thanks to Jimmybald, we have another interesting theory. Here it is (spelling mistakes corrected):
Now, when you look at it, there may or may not be clues hidden in the text above.
but...
1.Wii™
2.Nintendo DS™
3.Clubhouse Games™
4.Elite Beat Agents™
5.Yoshi's Island™
6.Nintendogs™
7.Magical Starsign™
8.Custom Robo™
9.Kirby™
10.Nintendo GameCube™

What do all these things have in common. EACH HAVE A ™ beside it. Ten in total when not counting the repeated words. So the tenth month is October. Now...

1.FINAL FANTASY®
2.Game Boy®
3.Pokémon®
4.Children of Mana®
5.The Legend of Zelda®:

There is 5 ®'s.

We know Wii will launch in 2006, so ??.??.06
Now, its 10.05.06


Sources: Nintendo press server, Gaming Target
Thanks to: Raphael, Infendo

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Oh look, we're out of space."

Out of space... world???

Space World ?

Thats all I have :(

I'm not good at this.

Anonymous said...

I'll tell ya what - I couldn't care less about this.

Nintendo should just tell us when the fucking lauch date is, rather than continue to piss about it and their fucking secrets.

I'm done chasing after the carrot.

Jason said...

So October 1st through the 8th. Doesn't Nintendo launch Consoles on Weekends?

Why did Nintendo pull out Final Fantasy on Nov 6th in the PR? Wouldn't they put the game in the list with the others?

James Bond?

Anonymous said...

It is definately october, i have just telephoned with Iwata !

Emil007 said...

sure, and i am michael jackson and have five wii on my neverland ranch...

Anonymous said...

Ok so this may be a little out there but it was worth posting for the fun of it:

This article posted these release dates:

Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games™
Oct. 16: Nintendogs™ (Dalmatian)
Oct. 23: Magical Starsign™
Oct. 30: Pokémon® Ranger
Oct. 30: Children of Mana®
Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents™
Nov. 13: Yoshi's Island™ 2
Dec. 4: Custom Robo™ Arena
Dec. 4: Kirby™ Squeak Squad

There are 5 in Oct., 2 in Nov., and 2 in Dec. October is the 10th month, November is the 11th, and December is the 12th. If you average them out, it equals 10.66666667. November 6th(or if we round up, 7th)? Just speculation, we really won't know till Nintendo announces the release date in September.

~RC™

Anonymous said...

what a théorie!

Anonymous said...

you might question my logic, but i think the hint is in the line up of games . . .

this first part is just some pointless thought about what the line up of games represent, it may be true, but i don't know. also, any incorrect game info is straight from memory and word of mouth.

Clubhouse Games = Some big event in a clubhouse or something similar.
Nintendogs = Fans will be able to play demos or something like that at the event.
Magical Starsign (known as Magical Vacation in Japan) = the launch is assumed to be magical because it’s launched right after summer vacation.
Pokémon Ranger = The fans are anticipating the launch just like Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.
Children of Mana = There’s going to be a good amount of RPGs that should last out until the next big RPG comes around.
Elite Beat Agents = There’s going to great music at the event.
Yoshi’s Island 2 = There’s going some change in the game genres/mediocrity (YI 2 was developed by Artoon, who is responsible for the mediocre Yoshi’s Topsy-Turvy).
Custom Robo Arena = The Wii will be very customizable.
Kirby Squeak Squad = This news item is just an experiment (like Kirby: Canvas Curse), but it may be a success . . .

as for the launch date . . .

fall starts around sept. 23 and ends around dec. 21 in North America. anywhere in between those dates are possible launch dates. you can rule out all the dates after nov. 17, which, if i heard correctly, is the launch date of the PS3. Nintendo said that they’d announce the launch sometime in sept. so, you can rule out sept. dates. that leaves all of oct. and the first half of nov. Twilight Princess is a definite launch title, so any spot of a launch date for that is also a good choice, but sadly, i don’t any launch date has been spotted yet for LZ:TP. then there’s also Nintendo’s launch date choice, their console launches have always been on a sunday, so that leaves us with October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and November 5 & 12. then we’ll take a mathematical approach using the date line up of the games announced in the news item.

9 + 16 + 23 + 30 + 30 + 6 + 13 + 4 + 4 = 135

then we divide the sum by the number of games announced

135 / 9 = 15

so there you have it, Oct. 15 is the lauch date. it’s a possible launch, but looking at the way i approached it, it seems like i’ve just been killing time; it’s just too elaborate, plus, the whole news item is probably just another hype factor. but i think the way i went to find the launch date makes some sense. there’s always a code every piece of information given in press releases, speeches, reports, etc. we’ll just have to wait and see, three more months until all hell breaks loose when the Wii launch date is imminent.

Anonymous said...

hey, i think, that it is a very obvious, the subtitile hints are used to advertise the games more.

Twilight princess, comming out either CHristmas Eve, or New Years, people will be generally still awake, in the" twilight of day"

Anonymous said...

hey i could add to my spot but..

"Oh look, we're out of space."

new years, no more space in the past year

CHristmas Eve, no more space/time to do last minuet shopping

its kind of bland but it is possibl right?

Anonymous said...

both CHristmas eve and New YEars eve are on SUndays,

it goes aling with

"Nintendo’s launch date choice, their console launches have always been on a sunday..." as stated by DaCh33ZyOnE

my luanch dadtes jsut seem very late, CHristmas eve isnt too bad, and generally there are massive sales then.

NEw years is deffintley too late but ehh..

Anonymous said...

The DS and SP came out on a weekend (Sunday I believe)

RGB said...

Fal, you mentioned the amount of word count in the article. You mentioned 320, 308 and 295.

It could be possible one of numbers is the actual launch date. Eg. 320th day, 308th day or 295th day.

The 320th day of the year I think is PS3 launch on November 17th coincidently so I doubt its that.

Metaldave said...

Wow that's some crazy speculation. Why doesn't Nintendo just SAY the date for crying out loud.

Anonymous said...

It could be possible one of numbers is the actual launch date. Eg. 320th day, 308th day or 295th day.

Both the 320th and the 308th days are after the PS3 launch date. That leaves the 295th day (Saturday 11th, October).

Not sure about the date, but i think its on October.

PS: maybe the Space World thing is true....

Anonymous said...

.... Final Fantasy is in capitals in the message each time its mentioned, whereas the other games are not. Maybe a hint to look within the name or the Nov. 6th date?

Anonymous said...

Wii.

VVii.

10-2.

Anonymous said...

head to head with Sony on the same day or same week?

Big N have potential, they got the confidence, they wanna show.

....by have it aout there on the same moment as the Big Sony????

Anonymous said...

@ anonym:
hehe, thats simple but effective speculation ^^ i like it.

Anonymous said...

It would be a tragedy, when the wii would win the console fight. This would be a step back in the gaming industry in relation to new technology! Maybe a step forward in innovation, but gaming has ever been a question about technologies and not boring peripherals ! I will not support a company, which is selling us for dumb by producing only a peripheral ! They have could produce the wiimote also for the cube, there is no question about it. And, before you start with your fanboy attacks, i am not a fanboy of any console or company, but i am a observer !

Anonymous said...

LOL !

Your points are the most stupid things that i have ever read !

If someone has the money , then he will definately buy the PS 3 !

Maybe you not! but most people will do, when they have the money !

PS3 games, i mean just look to MGS4, FF 13 or Resi 5, are more demanded then nintendo games, just look to the most wanted games list in japan ! There are more PS3 games then any other console !

Maybe the Wii will start with big success but, when FF13 or MGS 4 are released, the Wii and the Xbox will loose immediately !

Anonymous said...

less than 20% going to buy ps3 at it's price.

here's the best reason why wii has a good chance to be a winner.
gaming is all about technologies? come on, this doesnt help you if no one buys it. people are not going to buy a game which was identically available 10 years before, with the only difference being the graphics.

the next step is wii - the step after this may be a wii with ps3-like graphics. but now, the time has come to do something new. gaming was becoming boring. with wii, we have a new way of gaming, we are one step closer to virtual reality. which is the future, btw.

RGB said...

@ Letsan

Eh? I believe its launching on the 18th November, the PS3. I think the 320th day is the 17th November if im not mistaken.

Anonymous said...

The japanese will buy immediately a PS3 when square is going to release FF13 ! This is for sure ! The PS3 will take the lead in 2007, there is no question about it. The Wii will lead only 6 months.
Remember when the PS2 came out :
1.It was very expensive
2.Everyone complained about how hard it is to develop for

But look now ! And you know everyone is calling the Wii a big innovation, but what is BluRay?? Nothing??
The first time developers are able to deliver games with so much content ! Look just how Kojima spoke about BluRay, the MGS is only possible on BluRay ! And what is the CELL Chip ? No innovation, i mean this chip has 8 core's, it can deliver you so much entertainment, with all the new stuff, like real time physics.
You know, everytime nintendo is producing some product the whole world is freaking, only because it is nintendo ? No! You know why? Because the oldschool gamers all have love in Nintendo, i do also, because of the past, and therefore everyone is hoping that nintendo is going to rule again. But when they buy the machine they realize that the competitors are better ! Because the good old days have passed !

Anonymous said...

Oh i forgot something :

PS 3 is the first console , which will not have any regions codes on games !
This means we will have more japanese games in US and EU ! They are going to release the games simultaneously ,a all over the World !

This is Innovation ! And a big step in gaming !

RGB said...

Bla bla bla. Yeh ok Mr Anonymous. It is no innovation and it is something that should of been since day 1 of gaming. And I reckon they are only doing it due to blue ray. That is my opinion on it.

And its only worthwhile if you can afford the system as well as want to play games on the thing which at this stage I have neither. Not that I am majority or anything.

Anonymous said...

Dolphin Z

WII or VVII

V=5 I=1

V + V (5 + 5) = 10

I + I (1 + 1) = 2

10 = October 2= 2 day

2 October :) Voila


lol

Anonymous said...

Kein Regionen Code?
Jörg Schnettker, 26.07.2006 um 11:00

Perrin Kaplan, Vize-Präsidenten im Bereich Marketing und Corporate Communications von Nintendo Amerika, hat in einem Interview mit IGN über Region-Free gesprochen. Zwar ist es noch nicht final, aber es schaut so aus, als würde Nintendos Wii ohne regionale Beschränkungen kommen. Man ist begeistert, dass viele Benutzer den DS global, ohne Einschränkungen und mit vieler verschiedener Software nutzen. Der Spieler soll ohne Schranken global und regional spielen. Schon beim DS wäre das ein erfolgreiches und attraktives Konzept.

Source: www.videospiele.com

Short Translation = The Wii will be Region Free (maybe) !

Anonymous said...

Here's an alternate theory...coming from something I saw on this page...

Entire text:
Word count: 320
Characters (without spaces): 1477
Characters (with spaces): 1783

If the out of space sentence meant something, 320 could be a Julian Date (November 16th to be precise)

Anonymous said...

going in circles?

use the blu_luminoth formula


excerpt:

"when the wolf howls east*
and the moon is crescent
first 0.25, it will e******"


to +samurai aran+

I know youre just tryng to
help those
left in the dark*

you shouldn't have posted here
man


Guardian

Anonymous said...

i'm starting to feel it too... the secrets and the bullshit have got to stop. i've been going completely crazy for over a year now... they need to stop, as it really is starting to get old.

i literally just can't take it anymore, nintendo. please: stop doing this to me. please put an end to it.

-"superfan" tactics.

Anonymous said...

I forgot to add that 308 and 295 are the 4th of November and 22nd of October, respectively

Anonymous said...

I forgot to add that 308 and 295 are the 4th of November and 22nd of October, respectively

22nd October is a Sunday...
That wasn't the day Nintendo always released their consoles?

After reading all that, and the new rumour too, i think that the clue was in the sentece "Oh look, we're out of space". Surely this year there will be SpaceWorld for us!

Anonymous said...

UPDATE: Walmart.com has several games for the Wii, including Avatar: The Last Airbender and SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature From the Krusty Krab, listed with a 10/2 release date.

julencin2000 said...

mmmmm I love Nintendo... we're trying to solve a puzzle, but perhaps there isn't any puzzle to solve...
This is simply free publicity, viral marketing... Sony, you have to learn some about this for your next console... if you have any chance.

Regards

RGB said...

@ GI Jeff.

I had already said that above. No need to reiterate.

jose said...

What if the launch date has NOT been omited because it is just earlier than expected?
SEPTEMBER!!!

Anonymous said...

James Bond's Birthday is Nov. 11th, that seems like a pretty good time to release a system.