Game Gym

2011 Gaming Predictions

2011-01-22T13:24:00.003-06:00

I did it for 2008, 2009, and 2010 so why not do it again. Below you will see five predictions I have made for the gaming world in 2011.

1) Wii 2 will not be shown until 2012

E3 will come and leave us this year with only a mention of a new Wii system. Iwata, or Reggie, will likely make mention of it at E3 but nothing will be shown or talked about. This is the year of the 3DS.

2) Legend of Zelda: Sky Sword won't release until holiday 2011

Even though it was initially thought, and hinted at, to be a 2010 title, it was pushed back. Then it was assumed to be a March release. But with the 3DS set to release in March, there's no way they would double up with a major 3D Zelda title too. There's not much to look forward to for the Wii currently, so this will be pushed to November.

3) LA Noire will make it into the top 10 all-time list on GameRankings

Rockstar knows how to take it's time with a game. They also know how to make some really well designed and massive adventures. LA Noire will be no different. It will be incredible...that is if it makes it out in 2011.

4) PSP 2 and new iPod devices will both have 3D (glasses free) screens, but with no depth slider

3D is all the rage right now, and the 3DS has begun a major shift: no need to wear glasses. Well this year both Sony and Apple will release devices with screens similar to the Nintendo 3DS, the only difference will be there won't be a 3D slider to alter the strength of the effect.

5) Vitality Sensor will be a 3DS add-on, not Wii

This 5th prediction is always reserved for my most outlandish and less likely to happen. Well, this is it. Nintendo will have something quite a bit different for the new Wii to announce. And besides, the only example they've really given for this device, aside from more enemies the more scared you get, is helping you calm down before bed. And I think we all know that falling asleep watching TV does no good because you always wake back up again on the walk to bed. Why not do your relaxation games right in your bed with the 3DS.

2010 Games Played

2011-01-22T13:12:00.002-06:00

I managed to fully complete 16 games this year (same as last year) plus a lot of games I didn't get to finish. I was very surprised to see that I spent more time playing a downloadable DSi game more than any other game this year. And even though I didn't "complete" it, I definitely played it more than Super Mario Galaxy 2. Odd.

Completed Game Played Most: Super Mario Galaxy 2

Not Completed Game Played Most: AlphaBounce

Games Completed:

NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits (WiiWare)
Contra: ReBirth (WiiWare)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
New Super Mario Bros (Wii) - 5 Sparkling Stars
GTA: Chinatown Wars (DS)
Oregon Trail (DSiWare)
Super Metroid (SNES Virtual Console)
Dark Void Zero (DSiWare)
Touch Solitaire (DSiWare) – Beat each mode on each difficulty
Photo Dojo (DSiWare) – Beat 100 enemies
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
Splinter Cell: Conviction (Xbox 360)
GoldenEye 007 (Wii)
Super Scribblenauts (DS)
Metroid Other M (Wii)
Shantae: Risky’s Revenge (DSiWare)

Games Played (Not Completed):

Mass Effect (Xbox 360)
Boy and His Blob (Wii)
Scribblenauts (DS)
Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360)
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Xbox 360)
DroidFart (Android)
Wii Sports Resort (Wii)
Bit Trip: Beat (WiiWare)
FFCC: My Life as Darkloard (WiiWare)
Aliens vs Predator (Xbox 360)
Mario and Sonic: Winter Olympics (Wii)
Halo 3 ODST (Xbox 360)
Monster Hunter Tri (Wii)
Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Xbox 360)
Halo Reach Beta (Xbox 360)
AlphaBounce (DSiWare)
Mario Kart DS (DS)
Mighty Flip Champs (DSiWare)
Dead Space (Xbox 360)
Sin and Punishment (Wii)
Picross 3D (DS)
Angry Birds (Android)
Ultimate Spider Man (iPhone)
Abduction! (Android)
Angry Birds Holiday (Android)
Vanquish (Xbox 360)
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Xbox 360)
Enslaved (Xbox 360)
Red Steel 2 (Wii)
Tecmo Super Bowl (NES)
Newton (Android)
Fluidity (WiiWare)
Thruspace (WiiWare)
Picross 3D (DS)

Games Played at E3:

Killzone 3 3D (PS3)
MotorStorm 3D (PS3)
Playstation Home E3 Edition (PS3)
Dead Nation (PS3)
Gran Turismo (PS3)
Marvel vs Capcom (PS3)
EA Sports Active 2.0 (PS3)
Tiger Woods 2011 - Move (PS3)
Sports Champions - Move (PS3)
Medal of Honor (PS3)
The Conduit 2 (Wii)
Sonic Colors (Wii)
Mario Sports Mix (Wii)
Wii Party (Wii)
Donkey Kong Returns (Wii)
Kirby Epic Yarn (Wii)
NBA Jam (Wii)
GoldenEye 007 (Wii)
Metroid: Other M (Wii)
Zelda: Skyward Swords (Wii)
Epic Mickey (Wii)
Professor Layton 4 (DS)
Super Scribblenauts (DS)
Okamiden (DS)
The Grinder (Xbox 360)
Vanquish (Xbox 360)
Castlevania: Lord of Shadow (Xbox 360)
Dead Rising 2 (Xbox 360)
Dance Central - Kinect (Xbox 360)
Game Party: In Motion - Kinect (Xbox 360)
Driver: San Francisco (Xbox 360)
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Xbox 360)
Pilotwings Resort (3DS)
StarFox 64 (3DS)
3D Target – Augmented Reality (3DS)
Ridge Racer (3DS)
DJ Hero (3DS)
Dynasty Warriors (3DS)
Metal Gear Solid: Naked Sample (3DS)
Nintendogs + Cats (3DS)
Sims 3 (3DS)
Steel Diver (3DS)
Animal Crossing (3DS Video)
Dead or Alive (3DS Video)
Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS Video)
Kingdom Hearts 3D (3DS Video)
Paper Mario 3DS (3DS Video)
Resident Evil: Revelations (3DS Video)
Mario Kart (3DS Video)
3D Camera (3DS)
Xevious (3DS)
NES Tennis (3DS)
Tournament of Legends (Wii)

Conduit 2: Things to Change

2010-01-28T16:03:00.001-06:00

After playing through The Conduit extensively I have come to the realization that this game’s sequel needs a few things to change for the game to be “truly awesome” instead of just “very good.” Below are the features The Conduit 2 needs to have:

Single Player

Online co-op with at least 2 players, using Wii Speak, through the whole campaign.
Make the difficulties more than just harder enemies with better aim and more health. Look to GoldenEye and Perfect Dark to know what I’m talking about. This greatly adds to the replay value of a game because there’s a reason to play the campaign more than once.
Let us buy upgrades for weapons (ala Resident Evil 4) so we can customize our arsenal to fit our tastes.
Make achievements unlock something gameplay related (i.e. artwork doesn’t count)

Example: if you unlock the Shotgun Achievement you should have the option to start any level with the Shotgun and have unlimited ammo.
Example: if you unlock the Scarab Achievement (the invisible Space Pirate looking enemy) you should be able to play any level invisible.

Also, let me compare/share my Achievements with friends. It would really add to the incentive if others could see what I accomplished.
Design the levels in single-player to be more open and less guided. See the Frigate and Library levels in GoldenEye as good examples.
Let us destroy parts of environments. I don’t need walls or ceilings I just want to shoot a TV or light bulb and have them show damage.
Add a little stealth to the levels. Let me equip a silencer and take out a few enemies before they even know I’m there.
Let us transfer our customized control scheme from The Conduit to The Conduit 2 through the save file on the Wii.

Multiplayer

Make the game more like Guitar Hero World Tour where you are always online (or at least have the option). So if you’re playing single player and a friend wants to join you in co-op or invite you to join their multiplayer match you will be able to.
Let me unlock skills with my higher rank.
Let us buy upgrades for weapons (ala Resident Evil 4) so we can customize our arsenal to fit our tastes.
Allow us to save our custom control configurations to the Wiimote’s internal memory. So when I go to a friend’s house for some split-screen I can just bring my Wiimote rather than configure all my controls again.
Let us see who fragged us and where they did it from. See Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to know what I’m talking about.
Make grenades more powerful in multiplayer. A direct shot should get you a frag.

Luigi's Mansion Trademark Renewed (Vitality Sensor Related)

2010-01-20T20:18:00.004-06:00

AND

It appears one of my predictions, the most far-fetched in fact, has already got some potential weight behind it. If you'll recall I predicted this year the Wii Vitality Sensor would be used in a new Luigi's Mansion game on the Wii. Well look who just renewed their trademark for Luigi's Mansion... Nintendo.

That's right, let the Vitality Sensor mansion hunting commence.

2010 Gaming Predictions

2010-01-09T14:08:00.005-06:00

I did it for 2008 and 2009 and figured I had to do it for 2010 as well. Below you will see five predictions I have made for the gaming world in 2010.

The fourth year of each generation is usually when you start hearing about the "next gen." This year, with the boom of motion controls, you will see more of a re-branding than any truly new systems. Either way, it should be a pretty good year for gaming, assuming you don't mind a little movement in your games.

1) Gears of War 3 will release in Holiday 2010 but as a prequel to explain Marcus' history

From the first fifteen minutes of the first Gears of War I have thought this to be true. There would be two Gears games in the typical fashion with the third being a prequel to explain what Marcus has done in his past battles.

2) A new Pilot Wings will be released by the end of 2010

Boy oh boy I hope this prediction is right. Ever since playing the airplane demo on the Wii at E3 2006 I have been reminded of this sweet series. My only real hope is that the game has some form of online leaderboards with friends. I think that would really add to this game.

3) Nintendo will release a Virtual Console for the DSi with Gameboy-type games

This is an idea that really should have been acted on at the launch of the DSi but, again, Nintendo is a weird bunch. They innovate in so many ways and are so stubborn in others. I fear this feature is being held for the true successor for the DS but I hope I'm wrong there. This feature needs to be released now, or at least by the end of 2010.

4) This will be the last year for the PS2, ie major retailers will stop supporting it by the end

This little beast has been selling like mad for years but I am thinking that the PS3's success in 2010 will push Sony, and mostly retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, etc., to move away from the PS2 system. This is mainly because customer's will finally start seeing the PS3 as the obvious choice for their gaming buck over the 9-10 year old console.

5) Wii Vitality Sensor will be used in a new Luigi's Mansion Wii game

My fifth prediction is always the most outlandish, it doesn't help my prediction score that's for sure, and this one is no exception. Hate all you want about Luigi's Mansion (or don't if you actually enjoyed it) but someone at Nintendo loved the first game and is currently making the sequel for the Wii. It will use the Wii Vitality Sensor, announced at E3 2009, in some pretty cool ways to alter the environments that Luigi explores. If you like the Vitality Sensor I hope you like Luigi's Mansion because I don't foresee too many "core" games using it this year.

Now let's see if I can do a little better than 2009's predictions. It shouldn't be hard considering I only got one right.

2009 Games Completed

2010-01-07T23:21:00.002-06:00

I managed to fully complete 16 games this year with a lot of games I didn't get to finish. Some of them were because they were far too difficult (Henry Hatsworth), I just wanted to try it with no real intention of beating it (Devilish, Incredible Hulk, or any iPhone game), or the game doesn't ever seem to end (Okami, Boom Blox: BP, Scribblenauts).

Completed Game Played Most: Peggle: Dual Shot

Not Completed Game Played Most: GTA: Chinatown Wars

Complete Game Most Enjoyed: New Super Mario Bros Wii

Not Completed Game Most Enjoyed: Wii Sports Resort

Completed:

Madworld (Wii)
New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
Wario Ware: Snapped! (DSiWare)
Wii Sports (Wii) – Got All Pro Levels
The Conduit (Wii)
deBlob (Wii)
Mixed Messages (DSiWare) – Had an awesome time
Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360)
Lost Winds: Winter of Melodias (WiiWare)
Call of Duty: World at War (Xbox 360)
Peggle: Dual Shot (DS)
Flipnote Studios (DSiWare) – Made multiple animations
New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)
Personal Trainer: Cooking (DS) – Cooked multiple meals
Oregon Trail (DSiWare)
Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)

Partially Completed:

Tetris Party Wii (WiiWare)
Picross (DS)
Boom Blox (Wii)
Boom Blox: Bash Party (Wii)
Spiderman 3 (Wii)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (DS)
Incredible Hulk (Wii)
GTA: Chinatown Wars (DS)
Okami (Wii)
Star Wars: Force Unleashed (Wii)
Wii Fit (Wii)
LEGO Batman (Wii)
LEGO Indiana Jones (Wii)
Enigmo (iPhone)
Pocket God (iPhone)
Flight Control (iPhone)
Warioland: Shake It (Wii)
Clubhouse Games (DS)
Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360)
Drawn to Life (DS)
Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)
Henry Hatsworth: Puzzling Adventure (DS)
World of Goo (WiiWare)
Wii Sports Resort (Wii)
GTA IV (Xbox 360)
Scribblenauts (DS)
Brutal Legend (Xbox 360)
WET (Xbox 360)
Mighty Flip Champs (DSiWare)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360)
Devilish (DS)
Contra ReBirth (WiiWare)
Boy and His Blob (Wii)

Played at E3

New Super Mario Bros (Wii)
Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
Red Steel 2 (Wii)
Scribblenauts (DS)
Red Faction (Xbox 360)
The Conduit (Wii)
Wii Sports Resort (Wii)
Uncharted 2 (Wii)
Batman: Dark Asylum (PS3)
Icarian: Kindred Spirits (Wiiware)
Line Fighters (Wii)
Muramasa: Demon Blade (Wii)
Silent Hill (Wii)
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (Wii)
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Wii)
Dead Space: Extraction (Wii)
COP: The Recruit (DS)
Dead to Rights (Xbox 360)
Army of Two: 40^th Day (PSP)
Dark Siders (Xbox 360)
Punch Out!! (Wii)
Sin and Punishment (Wii)
Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest (Wii)
Golden Sun 3 (DS)
Dark Void (Xbox 360)
PSP GO Device (PSP)
Gran Turismo (PSP)
Soul Caliber (PSP)
TMNT: Smash Up (Wii)
EA Grand Slam Tennis (Wii)
Tiger Woods 10 (Wii)
InFamous (PS3)
Tekken 6 (PS3)
Socom (PSP)
Beatles Rock Band (PS3)
SAW (Xbox 360)
Halo ODST (Xbox 360)
Shadow Complex (Xbox 360)
Twisted Towers (Wii)
Blur (Xbox 360)
Raving Rabbids: Go Home (Wii)
Drawn to Life: Next Chapter (Wii)

2009 Predictions: Right or Wrong

2009-12-30T19:12:00.000-06:00

Seeing as how 2009 is nearing it's end I thought I would check back on some of my gaming predictions. See the actual predictions plus descriptions right here. Below you will see 5 things that I thought were likely to happen in 2009.

In the end I shot a 1/5. Compared to my 3.5/5 last year I pretty much sucked it up this year. That'll teach me to try and predict Nintendo's choices. They make so many decisions out of left field it's near impossible to tell what they're going to do.

1) PSP2 will be released this Holiday and will not have a UMD drive Right!

For the most part I nailed this one on the head. The system is not officially the PSP2, it's called the PSPGo, but it is certainly the next version of the PSP system. The system was also released a little bit before the "Holiday" window but October 1 (in America and Europe) is close enough to "Holiday" for me to count it.

2) A new Zelda for Wii will release in the holiday of 2008 Wrong!

Boy was I wrong on this one. Had I not specified Wii I would have gotten it right, but alas, I didn't. As it turns out there was a new DS Zelda game released and we now know the new Zelda might be shown at E3 in 2010. So the chances of it actually releasing in 2010 aren't necessarily too great.

3) Voice chat will be standard on all online-enabled Wii games released in November and December Wrong!

I specified that all Nintendo-released games with online would have voice chat but there weren't any games at all released by Nintendo on the Wii with online modes at all. So in that way I was right. But I think we can all agree that this would never have been true even if they did release any online games. I hate to say it but this is the biggest reason I now own an Xbox 360 now.

4) Again we will see a price drop for PS3 and Xbox 360 but not for Wii Wrong!

Nintendo was the last one of the three to drop the price but in the end, I was wrong. I also said there would be new Wii colors and bundles and there weren't (at least not in America).

5) A new Resident Evil and GTA will be released for the Wii in 2009 Wrong!

I said this was my least likely to actually happen and sure enough, I was right about that. There was not a traditional Resident Evil title or GTA games released for the Wii in 2009. And after the sales of GTA: Chinatown Wars on the DS I seriously doubt we'll see one ever on another Nintendo system.

My Flipnote Studios Creations

2009-08-22T11:52:00.004-06:00

This is definitely my best of the three I have made so far. I only uploaded this one to Flipnote Hatena (click for my profile) but I will make a few more or post my other ones later and update this post.

Zelda Wii on Wuhu Island?

2009-07-12T11:40:00.004-06:00

Not sure if I'm the only one who caught this or if I just missed all the news and prediction threads about it but I found this very interesting. In the newest Iwata Aks interview Miyamoto has some very interesting things to say about the island in which Wii Sports Resort (and Wii Fit for that matter) takes place on.

Miyamoto:

It’s called Wuhu Island, but the concept is more or less the same. We really polished up the island, turned it into a resort and actually made the location into a kind of character. This will then lead to a range of island series…

Iwata:

So you’ll be releasing a range of series?

Miyamoto:

You could have adventure games, role-playing games, city-building simulation games... It will be fun to see all the ideas that we can come up with, won’t it?

Iwata:

So the idea is basically to use the same island as the location and then afterwards develop games covering all sorts of genres. Shimamura-san, how did you react when you first heard about the “Island Concept"? Did you have any reservations about it?

Shimamura:

Well, I was really taken aback. In fact, I was at a loss for words! (laughs)

Iwata:

Well, that's not surprising considering you’d just heard someone suggest turning an island into a character and then licensing it out! (laughs) Having just heard the explanation, I understand the concept but under normal circumstances, I think anyone would find themselves thinking: ”What on earth is this person talking about?”

Shimamura:

Absolutely! (laughs) Using an island as the setting for a game is very common, but the idea of turning it into a franchise...

Iwata:

So how did you end up coming round to the idea?

Shimamura:

Well, I heard an explanation that really made everything fall into place. If you see a street on TV that you’ve been to before, even if it was just the once, you’ll always say: “Hey! I know that place!”

Miyamoto:

We thought it would be a fun idea to have a location that everyone knows and then have all sorts of stuff going on there. It would mean that players would already know the town like the back of their hands by the time they came to buy the next adventure game.

See that in the bolded sentences above? Aren't those all a little telling about the next adventure game (i.e. Zelda) that Nintendo is going to be making? Unless they have some brand new adventure game in the works that none of us know about it seems to me like they may be making Wuhu Island the new setting for Hyrule.

And let's not forget this very obvious addition to the Wuhu Island.

Do you think Nintendo would use Wuhu Island as the location for the new Wii Zelda or do you think they have a new adventure game in the works that will use Wuhu Island?

Scribblenauts Has a Level Editor

2009-05-23T09:24:00.003-06:00

If you couldn't tell by my previous post, I absolutely love in-game editors. If the game concept is fun, ala Boom Blox, then creating your own levels extends the life of a game immensely. Kotaku just announced that Scibblenauts will also have a level editor and a way for you to share your level creations with other DS owning friends.

To top it off, as if this news isn't already awesome enough, you can actually customize the relationship between items in the game. So if you were to build a level with a large body of water you could make all fish afraid of water. And for some odd reason, you could make a tiger your only option to get across the ocean. Not sure why you'd want to do that, maybe it was a bad example, but the limitations are endless.

Trust me when I tell you I will be playing this game at E3 and giving you some hands-on impressions. It might be the only game I write anything about specifically.

Boom Blox Braveheart

2009-05-18T16:46:00.003-06:00

In honor of the new Boom Blox game coming out this week (Boom Blox Bash Party) I thought I would make one last creation to get myself excited for the game. You may remember another great Boom Blox piece of mine posted over at VGPC.com a few months ago making 8-Bit Games in Boom Blox. Well this one is recreating a movie instead.

Below you will see my recreation of the Battle of Stirling from the movie Braveheart.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Scribblenauts: Elephants and Bazooka Fun

2009-03-02T18:22:00.002-06:00

For those of you who may have missed it Joystiq recently had an interview with Jeremiah Slaczka. If you aren't sure who he is he's the Creative Director at 5th Cell, the company behind the new DS game Scribblenauts.

Well enough of an introduction, it's time to talk about the point of this post, the awesomeness that will be Scribblenauts. If you don't remember skip to the bottom of this post to see the embedded trailer of the game.

In his interview with Joystiq Jerimiah answered a question about emergent experiences they've found so far in development of the game. Below is his answer:

Have any items turned out to have emergent uses in-game that you didn't expect?

Oh, all the time. Last week someone gave a bazooka to an elephant, who picked it up with its trunk, and then Maxwell threw a rock at the elephant to see what would happen. Of course the elephant got upset and started shooting randomly to defend itself. It wasn't very accurate - it's an elephant using its trunk to shoot a bazooka after all. But after all those explosions Maxwell didn't survive the ordeal. Still it was pretty funny though.

Here is the trailer in case you forgot.

Nintendo DSi Info Video, P.S. I've Got Mine Reserved

2009-02-23T13:22:00.005-06:00

As you can tell by my Twitter post (in the upper right of the page) I have now successfully pre-ordered my Nintendo DSi system. If you aren't aware of all the really cool features that the new handheld has then be sure and watch this video.

April can't get here soon enough.

[Update:]
I also found this video that proves to everyone that a DSi is a necessity.

2009 Gaming Predictions

2009-01-07T14:35:00.004-06:00

Seeing as how it's 2009 now and I did this last year I thought I would make some gaming predictions. Below you will see 5 things that are likely to happen this year. Please feel free to argue with me on any of these predictions. Think I'm wrong? Well we'll just have to wait and see.

1) PSP2 will be released this Holiday and will not have a UMD drive

This one is a little bit out there but I think Sony will announce their next handheld device at either this year's E3 event or some event soon after. The system will have the ability, much like the DSi or the iPhone, to download games directly to them using a wireless signal. Also, the UMD drive will be gone since it drains batteries like a mother.

2) A new Zelda for Wii will release in the holiday of 2008

With Nintendo's new concept of holding onto game information much longer than in the past there is a good chance this prediction will not be proven true until after E3. And I don't mean we will hear about it at E3, I mean we will seriously not hear anything about it until maybe August for a November or December release.

3) Voice chat will be standard on all online-enabled Wii games released in November and December

As a new owner of the Wii Speak peripheral this could be more of a hope than a prediction. Sometimes it's hard to determine if my predictions aren't being driven by lust and the desire that they may become true. The only real way for this to be determined "Right" or "Wrong" later is if I give more details. For this prediction I mean that every Wii game released in the November and December months that has an online mode (simultaneous play with or against other humans over a network) will have voice chat available using either Wii Speak or a third party peripheral.

4) Again we will see a price drop for PS3 and Xbox 360 but not for Wii

We will, sometime before the end of 2009, see new Wii SKUs but not in the sense that you may think. The system will continue to sell well but a slight drop in sales during the summer will lead to a few different color options for the Wii. One will most certainly be black and I will be extremely tempted to buy one. I hate you Nintendo.

5) A new Resident Evil and GTA will be released for the Wii in 2009

This is my grand prediction that has the highest percentage of being wrong. Like last year's stupid prediction of Saints Row getting higher reviews on average than GTA IV this is my "out on a limb" prediction. I personally think 2009 will be the year that will start seeing some serious "hardcore" games released on the system. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition sold over a million copies so it's obvious there's a market for it on Wii. As for a GTA game being made, I see it being made by the same team at Rockstar that made the PSP Grand Theft Auto games. Let's see how close I am on that one.

Let the games of 2009 begin.

Games Played/Beaten in 2008

2009-01-07T14:14:00.002-06:00

I did this last year and it seemed to work out pretty well. I simply keep a tab on every game I played throughout the year so I can look back on it later and see what all I enjoyed. I successfully completed 14 games this year (compared to 20 last year) and played a total of 45 this year (compared to 43 last year).

All in all it seems like I managed to beat fewer games this year but played more. I think the fact that I got married in the middle of the year may have put a small hindrance on my ability to beat more games. I think you all know why.

So without further ado, here is the list of games I played throughout the entirety of 2008. And later I will post my predictions for 2009 as well as my prediction score for 2008.

Completed (No Order):

1) Halo 3 (Xbox 360)

2) Super Mario Galaxy – Luigi and all 242 Stars (Wii)

3) Contra 4 (DS)

4) Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Wii)

5) Super Smash Bros. Melee (Gamecube)

6) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

7) Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)

8) Lost Winds (WiiWare)

9) Mario Kart Wii (Wii)

10) No More Heroes (Wii)

11) LOL – Completed by having an awesome time (DS)

12) Picross (DS)

13) Boom Blox (Wii)

14) Lost Winds (Wii)

Partially Completed:

15) Bomberman Wii (Wii)

16) Tetris DS (DS)

17) Tetris Party (WiiWare)

18) Star Wars: Force Unleashed (Wii)

19) We Ski (Wii)

20) Gears of War 2 (Xbox360)

21) Rock Band (Wii)

22) Zack and Wiki (Wii)

23) Rock Band (Xbox 360)

24) Carnival Games (Wii)

25) Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)

26) Art Style: Orbient (WiiWare)

27) Locks’ Quest (DS)

28) Dancing with the Stars (Wii)

29) Call of Duty 4 (DS)

30) Spore Creatures (DS)

31) Endless Ocean (Wii)

32) Personal Trainer: Cooking (DS)

33) NHL ’08 (Xbox 360)

34) WiiFit (Wii)

35) Resident Evil 4: No Kills Run (Wii)

36) Star Wars: Rogue Leader 3 (Gamecube)

37) Super Mario Strikers: Charged (Wii)

38) Geist (Gamecube)

39) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)

40) Super Metroid (SNES)

41) Super Mario Bros: Lost Levels (NES)

42) Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)

43) Guitar Hero III (Wii)

44) Medal of Honor Heroes 2 (Wii)

45) Wii Sports (Wii)

Club Nintendo DS Case Received

2008-12-31T20:10:00.003-06:00

So I successfully managed to hit Platinum Status on my Club Nintendo account and decided to take advantage of the prize options. What did I go with as my choice? Well, see below.

Here is the DS Case in it's clear plastic protective cover.

This shows the neat little tag with the Club Nintendo logo. The back of the tag says, "Since 2003." Yeah, not in America.

This shows the DS with my DS sticking out the side.

This shows the inside. Perhaps the best part, it has a slot for you to carry two extra games in the pouch. So you aren't stuck with just the one in the system.

All around, considering this is really just a gift on Nintendo's part, I would have to say I am quite pleased. If you guys have yet to sign up for Club Nintendo I highly recommend you do. It has some neat perks.

2008 Predictions: Right or Wrong

2008-12-28T18:58:00.007-06:00

At the beginning of 2008 I laid down some predictions for the year. Below you will see how accurate my predictions were. Without spoiling too much, I think I did fairly well.

And stay tuned for this year's predictions in the coming week.

1) Wii Play w/ Remote will be best selling Wii game (not counting Wii Sports of course) Right!!!

According to this link it is apparent, and to some very sad, that Nintendo's brilliant marketing creation that is Wii Play has managed to be the best selling Wii game of 2008. But what is that you hear; the game actually outsold GTA IV that launched on not just the Xbox 360 and PS3 but also the PC? That is correct.

Some would say it is brilliant. Some would say it's a disaster.

2) Gears of War 2 will be release in the Fall of '08 Right!!!

As I stated in my prediction, this wasn't too big of a gamble on my part especially since there was no new Halo game this year and the first Gears was a huge seller the previous holiday season it came out. But just remember, back in January the release date for Gears 2 was not common knowledge.

3) Still no headset for the Wii, at least not by Nintendo Right and Wrong!!!

When it comes to voice-chat us Nintendo gamers have been a little left in the dust. My prediction was that Nintendo would complete the 2008 year without releasing a voice-chat enabled headset. Well they released Wii Speak, a voice-chat enabled device for the entire room, but not a headset. So if my prediction was "no voice-chat" I would be fully wrong but since I worded it differently, I'm gonna give myself a little credit.

4) Price Drop for Xbox 360 and PS3 but not Wii before '09 Right!!!

This is a prediction that makes you wonder if it was even a question that this would happen. Well, back in January it was still unsure if the Wii was going to be able to last and the PS3 and 36o were still doing fairly well in the hardware race. Well my guess was that both Sony and Microsoft would drop the price of their systems but Nintendo would hold strong. Both the PS3 and Xbox 360 dropped its price a few times throughout the year and changed SKU options. The Nintendo Wii remains in the exact same packaging and price we got back in 2006 (aside from a few Wiimote condoms and package designs of course).

5) Saints Row 2 will have a higher GameRankings score than GTA IV Terribly Wrong!!!

I went out on a limb on this one far before we knew much of anything about GTA IV or Saints Row 2. All I can say about this one is "why?"Why would I ever think that a series like GTA that has always garnered great reviews ever be beaten by a newcomer that only has one game in the series and it wasn't rated very high? Looking back on it now, I have no answer.

Well according to GameRankings these are the average scores and rank for each game:

Grand Theft Auto IV
Review Score: 96.6%
Overall Rank: 1

Saints Row 2
Review Score: 83.3%
Overall Rank: 67

Scribblenauts: Simply Awesome Potential

2008-12-05T20:47:00.002-06:00

I think this video says it all. Well, all but this one statement that I am about to make, "This is the type of game the DS was made for."

How Things Haven't Changed

2008-12-01T15:38:00.004-06:00

Black Friday was a success yet again (considering all things) but it appears certain companies fared better than others. In this time of economic turmoil it appears people would rather snatch up a single $250 purchase the entire family can enjoy (one gift for five) rather than a bunch of individual $250 gifts that only one person can enjoy. In this time of money crunching, people seem to be cutting back and buying up Nintendo Wii systems left and right. Those other more graphically superior systems (read: more expensive) are not fairing quite as well.

But then again, maybe money crunching isn't the reason for all of this. If you have been following the sales of the current generation or happened to walk into a store anytime after December of 2006 (post PS3 launch) then you would probably recognize the images below.

So my question, when does the Wii selling out (and selling millions) stop becoming news?

I "Voted" Sticker

2008-11-06T23:39:00.001-06:00

We in the Hendricks Family prefer to due mail-in ballots. But come election day, I felt out not wearing a sticker like everyone else. So I decided to make one instead. What do you think?

Dirk Nowitzki Loves Games?

2008-11-01T10:04:00.005-06:00

I didn't know Germans, sized triple XL, enjoyed playing Guitar Hero. Then again, who doesn't?

But when all things are considered, Dirk has some other reasons to like the world of video games too. Recently EA Sports used their most recent sports game, NBA Live '09, to simulate the entirety of this upcoming season. The results show the Dallas Mavericks, Dirk's team, coming in 3rd place in the West. And judging from past years, that's pretty good. The West tends to be a far more dominant force in the league. Aside from one or two good teams in the East it pretty much sucks.

Google Receives the Morph Ball Upgrade

2008-09-04T10:32:00.001-06:00

I think Google may have ripped off one of Nintendo's greatest gaming characters special abilities and put it in logo form. Behold the incredible similarities.

And for those of you that don't recognize the ball on the left, it is from the Metroid series of games starting on the NES and most recently on the Wii. She upgrades her Morph Ball throughout the games to different abilities and colors.

It does make me wonder though, if Google is as powerful a company as it is and it's just now getting the Morph Ball upgrade, what happens when it gets the Power Suit or Varia Suit upgrades? Only time will tell.

Cause of Solid Snake's Increased Aging

2008-06-18T09:54:00.001-06:00

I typically read a few different video game comics every week and I stumbled upon this one from 2P Start that had me in stitches. Check it out below and tell me that's not awesome.

Wedding Invitations

2008-05-26T12:50:00.005-06:00

As you may or may not know by now, I am set to be married this August. I made it my responsibility to create the wedding invitations and pitch the idea to the loved one but I knew I had to make sure the initial mock was good enough or she may never go along with the idea. The idea was, of course, adding Mii characters to the invitations. Who doesn't love those cute little guys, gamer or not.

After many different alterations to the design itself, and a good chunk of time spent in Photoshop creating the character's outfits, below you will find the final piece.

We mailed them out a few days ago and so far we have had quite the wonderful response. Even grandparents and cousins who don't even know about the Wii thought they were cute. The key to using Miis on the invitations for us was that they still looked classy, hence the gown and tux.

So, what do you think?

EA Console Announced by 2012

2008-05-15T15:27:00.004-06:00

Do you think a fourth gaming console could enter the market and have all four survive? Many were surprised with the fact that three could survive after the last generation ended. All were profitable last generation and even now, with the start of a new generation, all three companies are making (or starting to make) profits in their gaming divisions. But how would a fourth entry in the gaming industry compete?

If the fourth console was backed by Electronic Arts (EA), that's how.

At first thought it would be easy to think that a fourth console would fail in an already crowded market. Microsoft and Sony are dueling with blades it seems, each trying to one-up the other, while Nintendo is trying to create a new audience. Thrown in the mix of things are third-party companies trying to figure out which of their games will succeed on which systems. EA is one of the only third-party companies large enough to structure an entirely new strategy.

Electronic Arts, the largest third-party developer in the industry, is about to take things into their own hands. No longer will they be forced to decide which existing console to put their games on. No longer will the decisions of their future be made by other companies. In the very near future, EA will have successfully purchased a company by the name of Take-Two (the makers of the Grand Theft Auto series).

In the last few years EA has purchased multiple developers (listed below) putting them in a prime position to call the shots. All they need now is Take-Two.

Bioware
Pandemic Studios
Black Box Games
Studio 33
Mythic
Criterion
Maybe Ubisoft

There are some smaller game development and networking companies not in the list above but it's plain to see that just in the last few years alone EA has managed to gather up a hefty sized list of developers. Dare I say EA has enough development power to sustain an entire system on it's own. Just imagine the sheer mess it would make for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo if EA decided to stop producing games for their systems.

If you are curious, here is a quick list of games (or series) that would soon be exclusive to the EA PSWiiBox (name copyrighted).

Madden Football
Grand Theft Auto
FIFA Soccer
All other sports titles
Bioshock
Sims (all versions)
Spore
Rock Band
Burnout
Battlefield
Medal of Honor
Skate!
SSX
Black
Need for Speed
Command & Conquer
BOOM BLOX (I had to throw that one in there)

Gaming Doesn't Lead to Violence?

2008-04-28T20:13:00.004-06:00

This is a fantastic video. These guys decided to do some real research in regards to video games and how it relates to violence in children. I particularly enjoy the segment about the Virginia Tech shootings around the 5th minute.

Maybe I enjoy this video because I am a gamer and the results of these studies shows gaming in a positive light. I would say more but I think the video pretty much speaks for itself. Tell me what you think.

What Mario Kart Wii Should Be

2008-04-11T14:28:00.004-06:00

I thought it would be interesting to post about a Mario Kart Wii game that I would actually buy. I decided to use another game, that we all seem to be thoroughly enjoying, as the cornerstone for how Mario Kart Wii could have been. The game I am comparing Mario Kart to is Super Smash Bros Brawl. I may have simply stolen features from Smash Bros and added them to the Mario Kart series but in all honesty, that's what Nintendo should have done anyway. Adding bikes to a kart game that effectively handle the exact same as the karts is not an upgrade. And since I'm on the subject, baby-ifying existing Mario universe characters is not the same as making new characters.

Let's start off with a big one. Why doesn't Mario Kart for Wii have a simple level editor? I'm talking about both battle mode tracks and racing course here. How awesome would it be to effectly make the game with all new courses, rather than half the courses being rehashes, and allowing us to "download" created versions of past courses. This would be a feature just like Smash Bros in that we could receive levels from other people, or Nintendo themselves, once a week from the Mario Kart Channel. Smash sends levels that only take a single block of memory, why couldn't courses be small file sizes too?

One of the major complaints I always hear about the Mario Kart series is the fact that the rubber band AI is too elastic. Well, a very easy way to fix that issue is to allow you to turn off all items (obviously not in Grand Prix modes). Or even better yet, let me turn off just the triple red shell or single banana peel. And while I'm on that note, allow me to change other options of each race or battle. Why can't I change the gravity on the course allowing for huge jumps and tricks? It would allow for near flight combat segments. Now try and tell me that wouldn't be a cool option.

And lastly, allow me to save replays of races or battles and let me send them to friends. If you had a great comeback in a race, send the replay to a friend. If you had a classic moment you want frozen in time, send the picture to a friend. And in addition to that, something Smash doesn't allow, let me save these images as jpgs so I can send them to friends that don't have the game. Think about it Nintendo, that's free advertising for one of your best franchises. Or at least it used to be one of your best.

Casual Games are to Water what Hardcore Games are to Soda

2008-03-31T10:25:00.000-06:00

Casual Games = Water
Hardcore Games = Soda

For the sake of this argument we are going to assume there is a difference between what are called "casual" games and what are called "hardcore" games. And let's be honest, there is a drastic difference in a game such as Gears of War and a game called Wii Play. What I find interesting is the relation of "casual" games to a glass of water and "hardcore" games to a can of pop.

Water has a plain flavor that anyone can enjoy. Give a 12 year old child a glass of water and they love it; same goes for an 85 year old woman. Grandparents love water. Much like "casual" games, everyone can enjoy a tall glass of water.

Soda pop has a much more complex flavor when compared to water. It almost has an acquired taste, one that many older people do not enjoy do to the excessive bubbles (complicated controls) or the "it's bad for you" reputation (violence). I know not all hardcore games have violence but that is the common belief among non-gamers.

I am the type of gamer who loves both types of beverage (talking about games now). I own and love drinks everywhere from Dasani to Aquafina to Fiji (Brain Age, Wii Sports, Picross). But I also love myself some Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, and Sierra Mist (Halo, Gears of War, and Super Smash Bros). All of these drinks I can enjoy, a good beverage is a good beverage no matter the type or the flavor.

Mario Kart Wii is an interesting beast in regards to this beverage analogy because it is trying to appease both the water crowd and the soda crowd. This game to me seems closer to a Propel Fitness Water, which I do not enjoy. There are certain things I do not like about beverages and one of the main ones is when you water down my fountain drink. I'm sure you have all taken a drink of your 7-11 fountain drink about an hour after you fill it up and the ice has begun to melt into the drink. It's nasty. That is how Mario Kart Wii tastes to me.

I can't quite put my finger on the reasons why Mario Kart Wii seems like a watered down version of the series but it simply tastes bad in my mouth. Could it be the lack of a co-op Grand Prix mode? Perhaps. Could it be the requirement that battle mode is team based only? Maybe. Or could it be the fact that it is impossible to be eliminated in Battle Mode because it is all score based? Good chance. There are simply no options, no complex flavors.

Even though they are adding an online mode it still seems to me that this is a watered down version of the series' past. Please explain to me why this is a delicious flavored beverage because I would like nothing more than to continue my love for one of Nintendo's greats, but it simply isn't happening right now.

Nintendo's Pay-to-Play Online, Bad News for Gamers

2008-02-23T14:18:00.005-06:00

As mentioned during this years Game Developers Conference (GDC) Nintendo could very well start charging its customers to play games online. Not only that, but it will allow companies to start releasing downloadable content for games.

I personally think this news is awful. I can't stand the fact that companies hold onto content for a game, charge full price for it, and then release said content and charge you again. I would rather wait a year for the full-blown sequel while playing the original than pay $30-$40 to "upgrade" the same game and then pay for the sequel a year and a half later anyway. Make this downloadable content free (yeah right), and we'll talk.

A game like Animal Crossing on the Wii, which I am (was) quite excited for, now holds some serious potential to be a total wallet killer by forcing us to pay for every single piece of furniture. Disaster in the making? I sure hope so. This may be the first time I have ever hoped for something that Nintendo does to fail. So much for appealing to everyone huh Reggie.

As for paying to play online games, until Nintendo's online services prove not to suck compared to the competition, one of which is also free (see PS3), then they should hold off on this move. The announcement stated this change is for the Wii and the DS system, but DS users are already paying an extra $5 charge for every WiFi compatible title ($35 for a DS game rather than $30). Now Nintendo is going to charge an addition fee after the already increased $5 price? If Mario Kart Wii is the first game to demonstrate this move for Nintendo, then it could very well be the first Mario Kart game that I do not buy.

Am I alone on this one? Are there others out there that feel the same way I do or am I standing on top of a very small soap box?

Are You Keeping Smash Bros Spoiler Free?

2008-02-17T18:37:00.003-06:00

I have been trying my darndest to keep the remaining roster and stages of Smash Bros Brawl a secret but in thinking about what has already been announced it got me thinking. Ever since Sakurai, the director of Brawl, announced that all future updates to the Smash Bros Dojo may contain spoilers I have been keeping myself away from most of the Brawl news. But after doing some quick math in my head about the currently announced newcomers it got me wondering if I already knew almost every character.

I know the final playable roster on Melee, I've been re-playing it for the last 2 weeks now, and there are a total of 25 characters. So let's assume that every character in Melee is returning, this could deinitely be false, and we are only 10 characters away from the Brawl roster of 35. As you will see below, there could easily be more than 35 characters in Brawl, but that number could be correct so we'll continue anyway.

So with 25 characters assumed to be there already, the Melee returners, let us count the already announced newcomers.

Diddy Kong
Pit from Kid Icarus
King Dedede
Solid Snake
Sonic the Hedgehog
Olimar
Lucas
Pokemon Trainer
Wario
Ike
Meta Knight

You can see by the list above that it would already put us at 36 characters, more than the 35 I was told. So we already have 36 characters that we know of, but that was assuming that every character is returning from Melee. So let's remove the "clone" characters from the list.

Dr. Mario
Falco
Pichu
Young Link
Ganondorf
Roy

The Smash Bros Dojo hasn't officially announced any of the "clones" as playable in Brawl up to this point so it could be argued that all "clone" characters have been removed. So that would put us at 30 characters. But what about the already announced Lucas and Ike from Melee character's existing franchises. Are these characters in addition to Ness and Marth from Earthbound and Fire Emblem or are they replacements? Do we add them to make it 32 or do we keep it at 30 and call them replacements?

There are a few possible explanations for this whole roster situation. 1) There are more than 35 playable characters, 2) everyone has been announced already (highly doubtful since there were spoiler warnings), or 3) the roster is mostly different aside from a few characters here and there so nothing can be assumed about Melee returners.

One thing is certain, there should at least be a few surprises left for me when I get the game next month. I just hope they didn't get rid of Roy seeing as he was my personal favorite. And by the way, if any of you know there to be more than 35 characters in Brawl, feel free to inform me.

Fatal Frame, More Like Pretty Frame

2008-01-30T15:12:00.000-06:00

What a deadly combo. In one hand we have the much-loved Fatal Frame series and in the other hand we have Grasshopper Studio. Now take both those hands and smash 'em together. You see all that muck on your hands? Scrape it off and put it in the Tecmo Oven for a few minutes. Take it out and put it onto a pretty little plate and dab some Nintendo Production Salt and Pepper all over it. And there you have the next game in the Fatal Frame series, Fatal Frame 4.

As you can see from the image above, and the image below for that matter, this game is looking pretty good. And that is to be expected out of Tecmo, the producer of many things gorgeous. Many believe these screens to be taken from a cutscene of sorts, rather than beingk actual gameplay material but either way, I'm pretty excited. With the crazy mind of Suda51 (Killer7 and the recently released Wii-exclusive No More Heroes) some very interesting things could happen with this game. Just imagine using the Wiimote as your flashlight when BAM, zombie/ghost/monster attacks.....and then you take a picture of it.

And why in the world Nintendo has agreed to produce this game is beyond me. With the failing issues they have had producing any of their other products in the last year, maybe they should step back and let someone else take the reins this time.

Sony Ends 80GB Model, Analysts Suck

2008-01-25T14:38:00.000-06:00

Well it's official. Analysts are a bunch of idiots. And yes, I mean all analysts. I have never particulary liked analysts, for really any industry, because there are so many of them guessing so many different things that a few of them are bound to be right. And those are the only ones who get recognized. The 95% that failed never get mentioned because that's not interesting. I suppose I have always seen them with this thought in mind: "Those who can't; predict." Or should I say try to predict.

Didn't see that pole there did you analyst? Whoops...

For those of you who may not have seen the rumors, they seem pretty accurate and reasonable to me, about Sony discontinuing their 80GB model of their PS3 then head on over and read the news. With this news I was alerted of another reason I don't tend to read analyst blogs or care in the slightest what they say. According to GameDaily Mike Hickey, an analyst for Janco Partners, said

"Sony is likely dumping the 80GB version because it has failed to meet internal sales projections."

DO YOU THINK???? Could Sony possibly have canned the 80GB version of the system because it was selling too well? That's the only logical reason I could come up with. It's a good thing Janco Partners pays this guy [any money at all] to inform us of the ways of retail.

Wii Music Details Emerge

2008-01-22T11:49:00.000-06:00

In the great and wonderful world of video games there seems to always be some new info out there to gather up and spread to the world. And with the quickness of the internet, info gets spread pretty quickly. As many of you know, Mr. Miyamoto never has more than about two games he is strictly working on at a time. He oversees about 50 at any given time but he is never fully committed to more than two or three. Now that Super Mario Galaxy and WiiFit are finished or out the door in all major regions, it is time for him and his team to move on and commit more time on their next project: Wii Music.

Ever since the initial unveiling and announcement of this game at E3 of '06 there hasn't been a whole lot of info released. If you read the impressions from E3 back then you would know the game was very simple and shallow. It was more of a demo than a full fledged game with only a conductor mode and a very simple drum session. Wii Music was not playable for the average schmoe who attended E3 that year most likely because the game was so early. Well today, some new info has emerged on the game and it seems to have a little more depth.

According to a neogafer there are a few new details for us to ponder over until a few months from now when more details are revealed to us at this year's E3.

Wii Music's gameplay is based around smaller "play sessions."

You will have over 40 different parts (such as Folk Guitars, Base Guitars, Trumpets, Maracass, Marimbas, etc) each with different controls. You can also be the conductor.

You can play up to 6 parts together. Up to 4 parts can be played by humans while the others will be played by the CPU.

Expected release date is sometime in 2008.

One example that was given is how you will play the guitar. You will hold the Wiimote in your left hand and the nunchuk in the right. You will then essentially play notes with buttons on the Wiimote and strum using the nunchuk (imagine holding a guitar with the Wiimote being the fret board and the nunchuk being the strumming hand). This may not sound extremely easy compared to Guitar Hero but it will also be a regularly priced game rather than a $90 package. Not only that but the game will have over 40 instruments and parts and not just one intrument. So there's got to be some gems in the there somewhere.

Enjoy the video below for some an old look at the game.

99 Lives in Contra IV - Konami Code

2008-01-16T09:57:00.000-06:00

So you may remember how I tricked you a few days back to make you think the Konami Code worked in the new Contra IV. It was for your own good you know, that's what trainers are for, to make you stronger. Well it turns out there is a way to actually use that code in Contra IV and get a similar result to the Konami Code in the original. It may be a little bit trickier to pull off but it is pretty simple once you complete it once. Below you will see the steps to getting 99 lives (even better than the 30 you got in Contra) and most likely never having to waste a continue in Contra IV again.

On Stage 1 get to the middle boss (the one up top on the rail) and die a few times until you use a continue.

You will then restart in the middle of the stage just before the middle boss.

Perform the Konami Code. (Start ( Up - Up - Down - Down - Left - Right - Left - Right - B - A) Start )

Kill the middle boss (P.S. you can get in the gun after you kill it).

Get to the stage boss (the one with the single red eye and single sniper).

Kill the sniper on top.

Shoot the red center 49 times with your pea shooter.

Die until your life counter shows 00 life.

Standing in front of the red center eye shoot and press start immediately after (you will pause with the bullet in the air headed towards the Red Eye).

Perform the Konami Code for the second time.

You should then see your life meter showing 99 lives

Essentially what this does is kill you with the Konami Code while your bullet is paused in the air. So you effectively die at the same time there is a new animation loading the second stage of the boss. So your live meter gets jumbled and rather than ending the game it resets your life meter to the next option, 99 lives. If you need help by watching something, below you will see the video demonstration.

Leon S. Kennedy in Smash Brothers???

2008-01-14T11:38:00.000-06:00

After yesterday's announcement about Olimar in Smash Brothers it is quite apparent there are a few secrets left in Sakurai's magic bag. According to IMDB (Internet Movie Database) Leon S. Kennedy of the Resident Evil series will be voiced in the new Smash Brothers game. This doesn't really mean anything since nothing has been announced but it is certainly interesting. I would have to think, were this information true, then Leon would have to be a playable character. If he was merely an Assist Trophy or side character then he would most likely not need a voice for the game. So he must be a playable character.

Leon may seem out of place in a game that is compiled of mostly cartoony sort of characters but the way the series has been going Leon really makes sense. Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid series has already been announced as a playable character and he is a very real-to-life character. Capcom, the makers of Resident Evil, also currently have no character represented in Smash. Sega has Sonic, Konami has Solid Snake, and Nintendo has, well, Nintendo has everyone else. So why not allow a company such as Capcom to release a major player in Smash. It may give them some incentive to support the Wii a little more with some other games, here's looking at you Bionic Commando (please help it happen readers), if they got a character in Brawl. It also leads me to wonder if Square-Enix or Ubisoft has anyone in the game. I sure hope so. On second thought, I just hope this rumor is true first, then I'll worry about Square and Ubi.

Most Enjoyed Games of the Year List

2008-01-11T15:51:00.000-06:00

Over the course of the 2007 year there were multiple games that were worthy of my time. As you may have seen a few days back I listed out all the games that I completed during the course of the year. The games on the Completed List were in no particular order but this time they are in order of my most enjoyed games of those I completed. There were a few games on the Not Completed List that I enjoyed a lot more than some of the games on the Completed List. Take Contra IV for instance, if I had beaten that game it would most likely be somewhere near Picross DS on the list. But since I didn't "complete" it I can't rank it on this list. Most games that were truly worthy of my time I found a way to complete but Contra wasn't released until late in the year, I didn't even get the game until four days before the New Year, so I couldn't complete it in time.

In the end, I would have to say that Super Mario Galaxy gave me the most fun experience this year. Does it help that the game was released in November and is fresh in my mind? Yes. But did you notice Gears of War resting at #2? That game was released in '06 and it still made it to the top. I've now beaten that game (co-op) three and a half times and once on every difficulty. Twilight Princess was mostly completed in '06 but the final boss wasn't defeated until '07. I would like to play through Metroid Prime 3 again but I'm struggling to find the time with Zack and Wiki, Contra IV, Medal of Honor Heroes 2, and Guitar Hero III still on my plate and Endless Ocean (a very long term game) and Smash Bros Brawl coming out in the next month.

The best classic game I beat this year was surely Gunstar Heroes, you'll notice it was the only Virtual Console game I completed, but I am only a few hours away from beating Super Metroid so it lucked out on that rank. I had a blast with Excite Truck, mostly with friends over, and Metroid Prime Hunters I finally managed to beat the single player experience by March of '07. If you have MPH on your plate to complete the single player mode, I wouldn't recommend jumping it to the top of your list anytime soon. The multiplayer was great but the single player was seriously lacking.

So let me know what you think of my rankings and feel free to post your top games for '07 in the comments section so we can compare.

Best Games Completed This Year (Order of Fun Experienced)

Super Mario Galaxy - 120 Stars (Wii)

Gears of War (Xbox 360)

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)

Picross (DS)

Resident Evil 4 (Wii)

Halo 3 (Xbox 360)

Wii Sports - Reached Professional Levels (Wii)

Gunstar Heroes (Genesis)

Castlevania: DS (Not Julius Mode) (DS)

Super Mario Strikers Charged (Wii)

Red Steel (Wii)

The Godfather: Blackhand Edition (Wii)

Excite Truck (Wii)

Metroid Prime: Hunters (DS)

Baten Kaitos (Gamecube)

Wario Ware (Wii)

Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii)

WiiPlay (Wii)

Pikmin and Olimar Playable in Smash Bros. Brawl

2008-01-09T12:19:00.001-06:00

Wow...wow...wow Sakurai. Olimar and his cute little Pikmin friends are joining the Smash Brothers Brawl lineup? That is totally awesome. What I really question now is whether there will be any secrets left to unlock when we actually buy this game?

Today the Smash Bros Dojo, the daily blog releasing Brawl information, released another little nugget of information. Pikmin will be joining the foray in more ways than one. Not only is Olimar, and his little Pikmin, playable characters in the game but their music is available (at least the World Map theme) to select during a Brawl match. I would imagine this must mean there will be a Pikmin themed stage in the works as well but it is yet to be confirmed. We are also patiently awaiting the moveset and Final Smash of Olimar. Until then you can wait the remaining 4 weeks or so until the game is released here in the States knowing you will be able to bombard your rivals with different-colored Pikmin. This could be a tough 4 weeks. Good thing Contra IV and Endless Ocean will be here to help pass the time.

2008 Gaming Predictions

2008-01-08T16:53:00.000-06:00

Seeing as how it's 2008 now I thought I would use my training skills to make some gaming predictions. Below you will see 5 things that are likely to happen this year. Please feel free to argue with me on any of these predictions. Think I'm wrong? Well we'll just have to wait and see.

1) Wii Play w/ Remote will be best selling Wii game (not counting Wii Sports of course)

With the fancy marketing that is Wii Play, it has successfully managed to mantain a top spot in the software sales lists for the last 12 months. This trend will continue into, and throughout, 2008. Wii Play will manage to be the highest selling Wii game for all of 2008. Yes, it will even beat out Super Smash Brothers Brawl, the sequel to the top selling game on the GameCube. That little $10 pack of mini games is just too enticing for the typical consumer not to pick up. Need a Wiimote? Why not grab one that comes with a game. It could be looked at as a cheap trick by Nintendo but it will successully top the Wii sales charts for 2008.

2) Gears of War 2 will be release in the Fall of '08

This prediction may not be all that crazy or unpredictable but in this day and age you never know. Too Human: delayed, GTA IV: delayed, Smash Bros Brawl: delayed, Turok: delayed, PS3's HOME: delayed. Those are some very high level games, or programs, that were delayed last year. Many big games missed their highly cherished holiday release last year. This year will be very similar in the fact that many holiday games now will not make it out until the year 2009. But that cannot be said for the next installment in the Gears of War series. It will release in the Fall of this year.

3) Still no headset for the Wii, at least not by Nintendo

Oh you poor, poor Nintendo-only gamers. You want voice chat in your online-enabled Wii games so badly don't you? Well so do I, and so do many other gamers out there. But I have some bad news for you... the year of '08 will pass yet again without the release of a Nintendo branded headset. Yup, even with those huge online-enabled games on the horizon such as Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Kart, and Animal Crossing there will still be no voice chat in a Nintendo game. Your only shot will be if Nintendo allows other companies to create their own or you will have to buy another system. Sucks don't it?

4) Price Drop for Xbox 360 and PS3 but not Wii before '09

This one should be pretty self explanatory. During the course of 2008 both the PS3 and Xbox 360 will see a price drop. These drops will most likely not be new SKUs, which has been the way for the last year for Sony and Microsoft, but rather a straight up traditional price drop. By the way, bundles don't count. There will be many of them this year, like always but I am talking about real price drops here. What you will see out of Nintendo is a few new Wii colors. These won't happen until much later in the year, look out for them sometime before the Fall rush, but the price for a Wii on January 1, 2009 will be $249.99.

5) Saints Row 2 will have a higher GameRankings score than GTA IV

This is by far the most outrageous prediction on the list. The race will be close on this one but in the end Saint's Row will see a slightly higher average review score than Grand Theft Auto IV. Not that this will matter in the slightest because GTA will kill Saints Row in sales. But again, not sure why that really matters either, unless maybe you are a stock holder of one of the companies. But one way or another, you will see Saints Row above Grand Theft Auto over at GameRankings for both systems.

Let the games of 2008 begin.

Completed Games of the Year

2008-01-04T12:06:00.000-06:00

I thought it would be a good idea, really I took the idea from a fellow blogger friend of mine, to record a list of every game I completed during the course of the 2007 year. You will see the top list (Completed) is a compilation of all the games that I completed all the way. Some games are hard to designate a clear completion point, Picross for instance, but I considered it completed after beating over 300 puzzles since I got the game. In fact, that could be the game I have put the most hours into simply because there isn't a clear cut finishing point. On the other end of the spectrum I have games such as the Godfather: Blackhand Edition that I completed the story mode on but I have yet to become the Don of the City, the ultimate position in the game. So there are varying levels of completed on this list.

The second list is of all the games that I have yet to complete and will most likely move up to the Completed List for the year 2008. Some games I will not beat, maybe ever, because I simply wouldn't enjoy it (here's looking at you Splinter Cell, Madden, Call of Duty 2). Other games I simply will not be able to complete because I don't own the system they reside on (sorry Motorstorm).

It's also interesting to see the systems that I tend to play more often than others. If you couldn't tell by the systems I tend to post about the most, it should be pretty easy to tell the three major systems I play the most. And stay tuned for my Most Enjoyed Game of the Year award next week where I will rank my completed games in order of enjoyment.

Completed (No Order):

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)

Metroid Prime: Hunters (DS)

Excite Truck (Wii)

Gears of War (Xbox 360)

Halo 3 (Xbox 360)

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)

Picross (DS)

Super Paper Mario (Wii)

Super Mario Strikers Charged (Wii)

Red Steel (Wii)

Super Mario Galaxy – 120 Stars (Wii)

WiiPlay (Wii)

Castlevania: DS (Not Julius Mode) (DS)

The Godfather: Blackhand Edition (Wii)

Resident Evil 4 (Wii)

Wii Sports – Reached Professional Levels (Wii)

Wario Ware (Wii)

Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii)

Baten Kaitos (Gamecube)

Gunstar Heroes (Genesis)

Partially Completed (Most completed first, least completed last):

Zack and Wiki (Wii)

Ninja Gaiden (NES)

Perfect Dark Zero (Xbox 360)

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Gamecube)

Contra 4 (DS)

Elebits (Wii)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)

Punch Out! (NES)

Bioshock (Xbox 360)

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)

Super Mario Bros: Lost Levels (NES)

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)

Guitar Hero III (Wii)

MotorStorm (PS3)

Medal of Honor Heroes 2 (Wii)

Tiger Woods ’07 (Wii)

Golden Axe (Genesis)

Bonk’s Adventure (TG16)

Madden ’07 (Wii)

Splinter Cell (Xbox 360)

Elder Scrolls: Oblivion (Xbox 360)

Call of Duty 2 (Wii)

Big Brain Academy (Wii)

Things to note about these lists: Some of the games on the Not Completed List are games I have beaten in the past. In some cases maybe multiple times (Metroid Prime 2, Perfect Dark). Also there are tons of games I got to play in demo form through download or kiosk that didn't make the list. I only put games on the list that I had at least an hour or more to experience; and it was usually far more time than that.

Konami Code in Contra IV

2008-01-02T12:12:00.000-06:00

If any of you out there purchased Contra IV for the DS, and you certainly should if you haven't yet, then you may have been wondering if the Konami Code works for this new version of the series. The Konami Code was first made famous by the original Contra back in the NES days and has now become the most popular and widely known cheat code in the gaming industry. Just ask around, there are plenty of people who know the code and would not be classified as gamers.

With Contra IV being as difficult as it is it could be handy for some of you out there to play the game with 30 lives rather than the default five. So in order to be a good Gaming Trainer I thought it would be a good idea to figure out when to use the code and make sure you get the best gaming tips. This will help make you the best gamer you can be. After all, that's one of the perks of visiting the Game Gym.

In the original Contra you had to insert the code before the title screen opened and the "press start" message appeared. Well try as you may, and some of you may have, but that code won't work there in Contra IV. Instead, try entering the code after you have started a game and it has been paused. If you have forgetten the Konami Code then here it is:

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start

I would recommend not trying this though until you get fairly far along in the game. Hey, what are good trainers for huh? To make you better. Ennnnjoyyyyyyyy...

Smash Bros Brawl Trophy Collecting Options

2007-12-31T12:10:00.000-06:00

Just when I was thinking I may have hit a point where I couldn't see myself putting anymore time into Smash Bros Brawl they went out and announced the Coin Launcher mini-game. This game is basically a replacement for the slot machine lottery from Smash past. In previous games Sakurai, the director of Smash Bros, simply had us insert all of our coins from single player events into a slot machine and hope we got new trophies. Now, he wants us to have a little bit more fun when collecting our trophies.

Above you can see the general concept of the mini-game. It has sort of a Missile Command feel to it but rather than protecting a few bases you are only protecting yourself and trying to shoot (with coins) trophies scattered throughout the arena. You control your aiming with the Wiimote twisting and fire with B. After a while you can build a green meter which allows for a faster rate of fire. So prepare yourself for a massive amount of coin loss in a matter of only a few seconds.

This is not the only way you can capture trophies for your collection however. Luckily for us Sakurai is allowing another tactic for building your trophy hoard. While playing through Subspace Emissary, Brawl's single player game, you can gather these neat little Trophy Stands and use them on enemies. These are items just like the Homerun Bat or the Star Flower that you hold in your hand and carry through the levels.

Simply throw the Trophy Stand at a weakened enemy and viola, you now can pick them up and they are added to your collection. This works on minor enemies as well as major bosses in the game. But for trophies that aren't of enemies and characters in the Subspace Emissary you will have to resort to the Coin Launcher mini-game. That is of course unless Sakurai has some more suprises in store for us in the coming months.

Holiday Trip: Pack Light

2007-12-21T16:33:00.001-06:00

Well I am leaving for a trip on Saturday for the rest of the week so I thought I will be leaving the GameGym unattended until early January. But I thought I need to give a little bit of VG Cats comic action on my way out. It's interesting how this comic actually played out quite true to life in my packing. The only difference is snow rather than rain.

Enjoy.....

Nintendo's Best Week Ever

2007-11-28T10:55:00.000-06:00

Nintendo announced today they had a very successful Thanksgiving week of sales. How sucessful you ask? The most successful in the history of the company. In the span of time between November 18-24 Nintendo broke company records, and for the company that essentially put gaming on the map, that's saying something.

During this massive week of sales Nintendo managed to sell 653,000 Nintendo DS systems. This is the highest single system sales Nintendo has ever seen in a week's time. The previous holder of this position was the Gameboy Advance which sold close to 600,000 units during the Thanksgiving week in 2005. At the time the Gameboy Advance had a price tag $50 cheaper than the DS.

Now let's not forget the Wii which also saw drastic system sales. Nintendo managed to sell an incredible 350,000 units of the Wii which I am certain was all the units available. I would have to think with the current demand for the Wii it could have hit the 500,000 mark easily had there been that many units on shelves. This also marked the highest single week sales the Nintendo Wii has seen since the initial launch week. And the word on the street is that Nintendo sold around 300,000 units of the Wii last week making the two-week sales of the Wii close to 650,000. If these numbers continue the next two weeks we could see the Wii sell a million systems in a month's time. Wow, that's all I can say.

With Nintendo making money on every system sold, unlike the competition, there is no better way to demonstrate this news but with the following image:

And if you don't know that's Miyamoto (creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, And Zelda) on the left and Iwata (President of Nintendo) on the right.

Classic Turn-Based RPG Comic

2007-11-20T15:07:00.000-06:00

I have been cruising around over at VG Cats Comics and I found a comic I find to be quite humorous. The concept of the game is based on a classic turn-based RPG. It's not a genre that I typically play but it's humorous if you have a decent idea of the genre. For those of you who typically read these comics as they are posted this may be old, so for those of you, I apologize. Be weary though if you find yourself browsing some other comics on the site because some of them have excessive language and exploding babies.

Smash Bros Brawl Spectator Mode

2007-11-16T13:50:00.000-06:00

Spectator Mode was announced today on the Smash Bros Brawl website today. There are multiple games out there that allow you to watch other people play the game over the interweb. Perhaps the person you are watching has a very fast race time or are an exceptional sniper shot and you want to see how they do it. Or maybe you don't have cable and they are just some random guy you would rather watch than static. The difference here is that Smash Bros will allow you to bet on who you think will win the match you are watching. So if you think that Bowser will win the match then bet 200 tokens on him and see if you win. With your winnings you can use them to purchase various unlockable goodies in the game. Not to mention you unlock stickers while viewing and betting on matches. Not a clue what you do with stickers, but hey, at least you get something.

This does a few things for the online experience other than allow you to watch some random people having fun playing the game that you could very easily be playing yourself, no, it gives you a slightly different online experience. Now you are never certain if someone is betting on you when you are playing an online game (unless you are a loser and set "Allow Spectators" to NO, who would do that). You could be sitting at home playing a game online and lose someone a million tokens. You could single handedly destroy the last remaining hopes for a small family of 4 with nothing but a few measly little tokens remaining in their bank accounts. How do you feel about yourself now Bowser...HOW DO YOU FEEL?!!!?!!

Smash Bros Brawl Online Detailed

2007-11-06T13:30:00.000-06:00

Is a hardrive needed for replays?
Sakurai announced that you will be able to save and send up to three minute replays of battles or other modes. At first glance one would think this would require a very large amount of data to save that much footage of a game. However, depending on how they save the data, they could keep extremely small sized save files. When looking at a game like Halo 3 that allows a similar feature they manage to keep two minute save files down to an extremely small 100 Mb. Considering the large amount of HD textures and high number of polygons in Halo 3, that is quite a feat.

The way the Bungie developers accomplished such small replay files was by only tracking (and saving) game code of everything happening in the game. Rather than saving the footage as a video file this allows the new viewer (the person you sent the replay) to move the camera around and zoom in and out. If the Smash Bros team uses a similar strategy for a game with no HD and a small environment you could easily get a three minute replay in under 40Mb file size.

To add to this, Sakurai has noted that we can save created levels, screenshots, and replays directly to an SD card. If the above tactic doesn't work, you still really don't need a harddrive.

Will there be an Adventure Mode creation tool?
The president of Nintendo of America recently told a media outlet during an interview that he wishes LittleBigPlanet was on the Wii and not on the PS3. In this game people create single-player levels from scratch and allow others to play through the level. My question with this Smash Bros update is whether or not you will be able to create single-player levels as well as Brawl stages. One thing I found interesting was a screenshot on the site with a ladder as an object option.

I have never once seen a ladder used in the way Mario is using that ladder in a Smash Bros game. In the middle of a Smash Brawl I think it would be awfully weird to stop the action and start climbing a ladder. So what could this mean for the create-a-level option? Perhaps a single-player level editor is on the horizon. One can only hope.

There are a few other things I have worries or suspicions about in regards to Smash Bros online features but that will have to wait until a later date. Not to say I don't love all these online features, because I absolutely do, I'm just saying there's more to it than what we know right now.

Industry Insider Predictions

2007-10-31T10:49:00.000-06:00

Apparently there is an industry insider, apparently quite accurate in the past, making some predictions about the future of the gaming world. There are some more interesting and some less interesting predictions in there so I went through and bolded the best ones, at least in my opinion.

1) The Gears of War trilogy will be finished on the Xbox 360.
2) IO-Interactive’s next Hitman game, tentatively slated for release next summer, is coming to the Wii.
3) The Far Cry franchise is coming to the PS3 courtesy of Ubisoft Montreal.
4) Even though the forthcoming Prince of Persia 4 will probably not be coming to the Wii, the system will receive an “alternate title” in the Prince of Persia franchise,
5) That Resistance: Fall of Man 2 starts in Iceland and ends in Mexico.
6) NBA Ballers 3 (not the final title) will be slam dunking on the PS3 and Xbox 360 in April.
7) Sony Bend is working on a PS3 Syphon Filter title slated for release sometime in 2009.
Neither of n-Space’s two Wii titles stars a ghost. However, they are even more ambitious than that ghost game and far better. One features a temple level that looks like it was swiped out of Red Steel and the other more ambitious title features an alien reptilian creature who bares quite a resemblance to Ganondorf. I’d be surprised if either sees release before March 2009.
9) Ubisoft will be publishing Soma, the Human Head/Mark Ecko collaboration coming to PS3 and 360 sometime before two years from now, and which I guarantee is way cooler than the overrated Prey.
10) After great success Athens 2004, Eurocom is developing sequel 2008 Beijing Olympics for Sega.
11) That non-Metroid game Retro Studios is working on is a new IP that is not an FPS.
12) Zoonami has a few titles that will be available through WiiWare next year.
13) Q Entertainment is working on WiiWare title or two for release for next year.
14) Space Michael won’t be in Space Channel 5 Part 3.
15) ChuChu Rocket! comeback for DS and/or Wii.
16) EA’s next-gen snowboarding title that may or may not have SSX in the title is coming next fall, at the same time frame as “the best snowboarding game ever” (or so I’m told numerous times) Shaun White Snowboarding (which is also shredding next-gen systems).
17) Red Steel 2 not before May, with multiplayer and co-op.
18) LEGO Indiana Jones is coming out after or at the same time as Indiana Jones (working title).
19) Yet another Super Monkey Ball game is in the works.
20) Fight Night 2008 is coming to the Wii.
21) Fuse Games + that pink round guy that floats = their next DS title.
22) Super Punch-Out! is coming to Virtual Console next year.
23) Monster Games is developing another game for Nintendo, that is not an Excite Truck sequel.
24) Wii Motor Sports Airplane is a WiiWare title.
25) Mario Superstar Baseball Wii is sliding to home base in the summer

Not sure if anyone even knows what Wii Motor Sports Airplane is but it has to be one of the most soothing and relaxing games that showcased the Wii back in May of 2006 at E3. The game is easy to control (hold the Wiimote like a paper airplane) yet it had challenges to complete as well. It was very reminiscent of the old days of Pilot Wings. Other than that, the bolded predictions seem to pretty much speak for themselves.

Smash Bros Brawl is an Online Feature Beast

2007-10-29T11:41:00.000-06:00

My oh my. Just when I thought Super Smash Bros Brawl couldn't get any cooler Sakurai, the games director, goes and announces this. It still may not be Halo 3 in the online department but the announcement today over at the Smash Bros Dojoshows that there is a level editor available in the game. Not only is there a level editor in the game but it is possible to save your creations to an SD card and bring them to a friends house to play. What, that's not really all that cool? Well then just send the level to them over Nintedo's WiFi Connection and play against them online. Still not cool enough? Well then mail the level to Nintendo and every single day they will feature a new created level for random online matches. So if you are fighting online and set the level to random, millions of people a day could be playing on your creation. Love it while you got it though because it only lasts for a day.

So as of right now there are a multitude of online options for this game. You can setup various character statues in different poses and send snapshots to friends. You can battle it out in every level and mode against friends or stangers. You can record up to three minutes of replay footage and send it to a buddy. And now, you can create your own level, music and all, and send it to friends or Nintendo for multiplayer madness. Is this the end of the online mode announcements or does Sakurai have some more tricks up his sleeve?

All Your Base Are Belong to Us

2007-10-26T16:27:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure if any of you out there actually know the back story to the infamous "All your base are belong to us" saying so I thought I would give you a nice little "video" demonstrating its beauty. In the actual game itself there is also some sound that goes along with the cutscene but nothing that really takes away from the meat of the story. Basically what happened to this game, Zero Wing, was rather than paying some translators to translate the text, they simply used a translation device and used it word for word. So obviously there are some serious grammatical errros in this cutscene. Enjoy.

Too Many Games Or Too Many Delays?

2007-10-23T13:51:00.000-06:00

This holiday season seems pretty cramped when it comes to big game releases but things could have been much worse (i.e. better). In the last few months building up to the November and December holiday rush companies have been delaying games. I am all for a good game, so much so that I am willing to wait for a delay to insure the game will be more fun. But when you look at the list below you will see just how many games have been delayed into next year. Many of these were initially announced early in 2007 and many of them were only unveiled during the various summer conferences, but one things for sure, they have all been delayed until 2008.

Please bear in mind that this is not an all inclusive list. There are certainly a few smaller titles out there that haven't been listed. Also be mindful that some of these games were only recently delayed so there could very easily be more games added to this list in the coming weeks.

List of delayed games (in no particular order):

Grand Theft Auto [PS3, 360]

Super Smash Bros Brawl [Wii]

Army of Two [PS3, 360]

Splinter Cell Conviction [PS3, 360]

Metal Gear Solid 4 [PS3]

Dragon Quest IX [DS]

God of War [PSP]

Mercenaries 2 [PS3, 360]

Mario and Sonic Olympic Games [DS]

Turok [PS3, 360]

Spore (again...for the third year) [PS3, 360, DS, Wii?]

Too Human [360]

Unreal Tournament 3 [PS3, 360]

HOME Service [PS3]

LittleBigPlanet [PS3]

World In Conflict [360]

Endless Ocean

Stuntman: Ignition [PS3, 360]

Juiced: Hot Imports Nights [PS3, 360]

de Blob [Wii]

NitroBike [Wii]

Harvey Birdman [Wii]

And please feel free to inform me of any games I may have missed.

NES No Longer Repairable Through Nintendo

2007-10-17T15:22:00.001-06:00

This may come as a surprise to some of you but Nintendo is officially closing down their repair service program for the Famicom game system (NES in America). What's that, you're more suprised they were even still supplying repair parts and doing maintenance on a system that is over 20 years old? Yeah, me too. According to IT Media at the start of next month though, things will be back to the way they were, thirty seconds ago, before you even knew this existed.

To be perfectly honest, I was more suprised to hear they were still even thinking about these systems in this day in age. It makes me wonder though, can I still find parts to fix a broken SNES. Well the answer is no, you can't. Nintendo is also ending repairs and maintenance to the Super Famicom (SNES), Nintendo 64, Gameboy, and Gameboy Pocket. Apparently the Wii's Virtual Console is enough to give those wanting their fix of old games what they need.

Women Are the Majority Gamers in Japan

2007-10-10T11:08:00.000-06:00

There was a giant retail conference by Nintendo last night in Japan where they announced multiple new games, Wii channels, and statistics. Sonic the Hedgehog is a playable character in Super Smash Bros Brawl (now an early 2008 title), DS demo and Mii comparison channels were announced and dated, and many original WiiWare games were announced. The biggest (or should I say suprising) news of them all was in regards to some data Nintendo released about the Wii and DS demographics in Japan.

According to a Times Online article Nintendo has announced that women are now the majority gamers on Nintendo systems. According to Nintendo’s own Japan-only figures, 51 per cent of Wii users and 53 per cent of players on the handheld DS machine are women. That is an incredible statistic considering the gaming industry has always been dominated by males. Essentially what this means is Nintendo has essentially doubled the market for the gaming industry. If women are now willing to buy video games, they have a far larger group of people to draw sales from. This doesn't mean the market has doubled exactly, but judging by the sales of the Wii and DS in Japan, the market is definitely increasing.

Zelda Cake Like None Other

2007-10-08T11:14:00.001-06:00

Last week I touched on the multiplayer aspect of Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, but today is a whole different Zelda ballgame. You may have seen cakes created for weddings, birthdays, or any other occasion decorated with a videogame theme, but I bet you have never seen one like this. This has got to be the most incredibly detailed cake I have ever seen. This isn't the type of cake I would actually ever eat though, I would feel too bad for destroying something so brilliant.

If you can't tell by the close view, that is Link and Tetra from the Zelda games The Wind Waker (Gamecube) and The Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo DS). But the close up view on the top of the cake still just doesn't do this cake justice. No, no, no. Look below for even more beauty.

Multiplayer > Single Player in Phantom Hourglass

2007-10-05T14:53:00.000-06:00

Is it a bad thing that I am more interested to play the mulitplayer portion of a game that has, in the past, been strictly a single player fare? I have successfully completed the first dungeon in the Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS and I was mildy impressed, but it's the multiplayer portion that really gets me wanting to pick the game up again. The single-player seems like a watered-down version of The Wind Waker for the Gamecube with a stylus covering parts of the screen at all times. That may be an unfair comparison because the game seems to do a lot of neat things like writing notes on maps and drawing the path of a boomerang.

The multiplayer in Hourglass is a first for the Zelda franchise, at least competitively. Four Swords was a multiplayer Zelda game but that was more of a co-operative event using the Gameboy Advance and the Link Cables. The thing about Hourglass' multiplayer is that it actually has more in common with Pacman VS, another game that used the Link Cables, than it does any other Zelda game.

The way Pacman VS works is one person gets the top down view of typical Pacman games while three other players control the ghosts in a more constricted 3-D view. Hourglass is similar with only a few changes in the design. First of all, it's Link (Pacman) that has the contricted view and not the Statues (Ghosts). Secondly, it is only a two-player game with the defensive player, the one controlling the Statues, controlling all three at once using the stylus. This player draws paths for the Statues using the top-down map and can see Link's location on the map at all times. Link runs around the map trying to grab Triforce pieces and bring them back to his base without getting sliced by the Statues. There are six rounds, three for each person, and you get scored based on the size and number of Triforce pieces in your base at the end of the final round.

To top it all off, the game allows you to play multiplayer over the WiFi Connection against both strangers and friends. Due to the crappy nature of Nintendo's friend codes playing with friends is pointless other than knowing you are playing against someone you know. As you play the game you get points that upgrade your rank. There are also various "achievements" in the multiplayer that allow you to unlock little things in the single player mode. Completing a game without ever dropping a Triforce piece, shutting out the opponent, and winning without power-ups will all earn you different unlocks.

My opinion may change as I get further along in the single player mode but as of right now, multiplayer is the bell of the Phantom Hourglass ball.

Halo 3 Totally Dominates Records

2007-10-04T12:08:00.000-06:00

Halo 3, in a total massacre of the entertainment industry, successfully sold enough units to bring in $300 million to Microsoft. Announced today by Microsoft, and touched on by big-wig Bill Gates, Halo has successully accomplished the biggest first week sales numbers in the entire entertainment industry. By that I mean that no movie, CD, or other videogame has ever generated as much money as Halo 3 did in its first week. To put this into perspective for you Spider Man 3, this summer's highest grossing movie, ended with $336.5 million in sales. The difference here is that Halo 3 sold just shy of that number in the first week. Also of note, according to Microsoft, more than 2.7 million gamers played Halo 3 over the internet in the first week.

Nintendo Stock Still Rising?

2007-10-03T09:31:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure if any of my readers out there took the initiative when the Wii was first announced and bought Nintendo stock, but there is good news to any of you who did. Reuters just released an article stating that Nintendo's stock has reached an all-time high and is predicted to increase their profit forecasts again. When Nintendo first unveiled the Wii, now currently the market leader, back in July of 2005 Nintendo's stock was floating somewhere around the $17 mark. As of yesterday it is sitting around closer to $67. With the holiday shopping season coming around the corner, WiiFit about to launch in Japan, and Super Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros Brawl coming as well it appears these predictions could very well hold true.

Minority Kart

2007-10-02T09:52:00.000-06:00

For any of you out there that have seen Minority Report and have played any version of Mario Kart (I figure you have if you're on this site) then you may enjoy this little nugget. It seems to me that ol' Tom Cruise is having a little bit of trouble catching his friends.

And the cycle doesn't seem to stop either, those crazy characters just don't ever let up. In fact, it almost looks like the video just keeps repeating it goes on for so long. I've been watching for almost three hours now and Tom is still chasing Mario and Toad.

Halo 3 Setting Benchmarks

2007-09-25T10:44:00.001-06:00

There are two things of interest to note regarding the most highly anticipated first-person shooter of all time: Halo 3. The game was released to customers today (some last night), so many of your gaming friends that are into shooters may very well vanish off this good Earth for the next couple of weeks. The most important thing to bear in mind is that Microsoft announced yesterday the game had garnered an incredible 1.5 million pre-orders. To put that in perspective the brand new Super Mario Galaxy, the next game in the highest selling series of all time, has currently only sold 400,000 pre-orders. Granted that game isn't out for another 2 months (I doubt it will come close), that is quite an impressive feat for Halo 3.

The next thing to point out is the fact that last night at 3 a.m. there were over 1 million people playing the game online. Many stores opened at midnight last night to give their die-hard customers the game early. So that means Microsoft have already sold over a million copies of this game by 3 a.m. this morning. That is an amazing accomplishment for any game. I would imagine by the time you read this the other half million pre-orders will have been picked up and there will most likely be another 200 to 300 thousand being sold throughout retail outlets around the country.

Metroid Prime Trilogy Comparison: Final Day

2007-09-21T15:03:00.000-06:00

Bosses
In Metroid games, there is one thing that really sticks with you. No matter how great a puzzle is, it is rarely remembered over a great boss fight. Boss fights, in Metroid games, are essentially a puzzle on their own, a puzzle that can kill you. Every time you encounter a boss you need to determine its weaknesses and decide how to defeat them. There are great boss fights in each of the Metroid trilogy games but none compares to the greatness that is Quadraxis. This is a boss that actually made use of the Echo Visor in a meaningful way. The visor is used in other instances in the game, but this is one of the rare times that it actually made sense.

First of all you need to take out the four-legged spider creature by the knees. Once you get it down to the ground you tear away at its armor until the body of the system separates from the legs. The body then flies around receiving sound frequency data from the legs. Until you destroy the sound frequency signal, using the visor, the body is invulnerable. The body is too high in the air for you to reach from the ground so you must use the Morph Ball to crawl up the legs, still resting on the ground at a 45° angle, and boost ball off to attach to the floating body. From here you drop bombs in certain locations on the body. This is a boss fight that could not be done in any other game.

Final Standings:
1) Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Quadraxis, Morph Ball-only boss)
2) Metroid Prime (Metroid Prime, Meta Ridley)
2) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (1st Meta Ridley, Gandrayda)

Overall
For all of you out there that may be sick of these Metroid comparisons, this is where it all ends. We've compared bosses, graphics, weapons, suits, and many other Metroid-esque features. MP is the most influential of the Metroid games, MP2 has the best boss fights and suits, and MP3 has the best graphics and controls. So how do you decide which of the three trilogy games is the best all around game. Well, what it really comes down to, is the best balance and overall impact. MP may not have had the best scan system of the three, the best weapons, or the best graphics but the trilogy would not exist without it. This is as good a transition from 2-D to 3-D as it comes and we owe it all to the greatness that Metroid Prime.

One last thing that needs to be mentioned is the character model used for Samus. In this regard, MP is far, far superior to that of MP2 and MP3. If you need to see for yourself, please see the images below. MP Samus is the image on the top and the cartoony looking Samus from MP2 and MP3 is on the bottom. Enjoy.

Final Standings:
1) Metroid Prime (Balance and Innovation)
2) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Compilation of everything)
3) Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Wonderful Bosses)

Metroid Prime Trilogy Comparison: Day 4

2007-09-21T11:26:00.001-06:00

Suits
In all Metroid games, including the trilogy, Samus can don mulitple different suits giving her varying attributes and abilities. But one of the coolest parts about any Metroid game is the way the heroine looks while weraing the different suits. MP starting the beauty off with a very attractive looking Varia Suit. Complete with extra large shoulder pads and a shiny looking tan and yellow color scheme Samus was ready to go. She then lost her cool looking suit and got a gross looking thing. She later got a slick looking black and silver looking suit with some Phazon corners. MP3 also had some cool looking suits, well, at least sort of cool looking. None of the suits in MP3 were really all that crazy looking to be honest, mostly just the same ol' same ol' with a slowly darkening color scheme.

MP2 is where the real beauty comes shining through. Not only do the suits in MP2 look far more unique and original than the other two games, but without them it would be impossible to survive in about half of the MP2 universe. The suits in MP and MP3 are vital, yes, but not near as vital as the suits in MP2. Above you will see two images of the Light Suit, the most glorious looking suit in the Metroid series.

Final Standings:
1) Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Light Suit)
2) Metroid Prime (Phazon Suit - Unlockable Metroid Fusion suits)
2) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Graphics
There's more to graphical comparisons than just pushing the limits of polygons and textures; the art design is also an important concept. When comparing the art direction of the three different games, there are a few things to mentions: impact and immersiveness. The art direction in MP was the game with the most impact on the series, you can tell that by the way MP2 and MP3 look. MP2 is a slight step up, but MP3 is the game that really polishes the art design with multiple planets and brings you into each world.

When it comes to pushing the graphical limits, I'm talking polygons here, MP and MP2 are no competition for MP3. In fact, the number of polygons are decently close to that of the other two games but the textures are double the resolution. So all around the game is sharper and more detailed. Not to mention the game runs in progressive scan, as does MP2, and widescreen.

Final Standings:
1) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
2) TIE - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime

Metroid Prime Trilogy Comparison: Day 3

2007-09-19T15:35:00.000-06:00

Weapons
Weapons are a major factor in the Metroid universe because there are typically only a few different options. Each weapon has it's own unique abilities and features. Unlike so many other first person view games, the weapons in Metroid games actually play a part in puzzle solving as well as combat. In MP and MP2 the weapons system is different from MP3. In the first two games you must use the C-Stick to switch weapons, much like the D-Pad is used for visor switching. In MP3 each weapon upgrade is "stacked" onto the preview weapons so there is no need for switching. This is a nice feature when it comes to battling multiple types of enemies at a time. To add on top of this is the feature that MP3 offers to use the grapple beam to assist in combat, thus, doubling it as a weapon.

Another major advantage to "stacking" weapons is how it effects doors. Doors are opened in Metroid games by shooting them and this is handled in a few different ways in each of the three games. First thing to mention is the fact that MP and MP2 force you to open doors with different types of weapons. This is obnoxious when trying to quickly run through the world because you are constantly switching weapons just to open doors. MP3 limits this issue. In the end though, the weapons really come down to how they are used in each game. The weapons in MP and MP3 are extrememly similar (both have ice, fire, and explosive weapons) and MP2 has very different weapons (light, dark, and combo) but is limited by ammunition. The difference really comes with the utilization of the weapons in each game. And requiring weapon changes to open doors and restricting weapon usage with ammunition are the two major factors.

Final Standings:
1) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Freeze Missiles and Fire Beam, stacked weapons, Hypermode)
2) Metroid Prime (Fire, Ice, Plasma)
2) Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Light, Dark - limited ammo)

Upgrades
The upgrades, in all honesty, are really what moves a Metroid game along. Without discovering a new upgrade it would be impossible to progress in the game. Or rather, if you had all the upgrades from the beginning the game would be over extrememly quickly. MP was somewhat limited in upgrades compared to the other two simply because they only had so much they could add in the first 3-D iteration of the franchise. To be honest, there isn't a single upgrade in MP that isn't available in one of the other two. So in terms of sheer numbers, MP is lacking.

MP2 added a few neat additions to the missiles by allowing you to lock onto multiple enemies at a time and adding the Screw Attack, but MP3 upped the ante again by making missiles freeze enemies and objects. Really, MP3 is a compilation of the upgrades from MP and MP2 with a few additional ones. Aside from the Gravity Suit (there was no water in MP3) and Power Bombs, there is nothing that MP3 doesn't offer that the other ones do. MP3 does, howevever, offer up a few new upgrades. There is the use of Samus' ship in combat and puzzles and the use of the Grapple Beam in combat and puzzles. And let's not forget Hypermode, the mode that allows Samus to use Phazon as a weapon.

Final Standings:
1) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
2) Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
3) Metroid Prime

Metroid Prime Trilogy Comparison: Day 2

2007-09-18T13:30:00.000-06:00

Puzzles and Level Design
One major factor of the Metroid series is the puzzles. There are a few different types of puzzles typically in the form of first-person view, morph ball, and bosses. I will be touching on bosses later this week so today I will only be discussing the other two types. All three Metroid games in the trilogy sport the Spider Ball, an upgrade that allows you to stick to walls on a pre-determined track, but only MP2 and MP3 added the Boost Ball feature to allow large jumps between tracks. So in regards to morph ball puzzles that feature alone added more creative morph ball puzzles to the later two games.

In regards to first-person view, it really comes down to the different visor and weapon options and the overall level design of each game. Depending on the visor and weapon combinations you have there will be different puzzles. The X-Ray Visor coupled with the Nova Beam in MP3 allowed some neat situations because it allowed you to see and shoot through objects. The Light/Dark World level design in MP2 turned out not to be the best fit for the Metroid series. In a game that often requires you to revisit areas multiple times it is often very difficult keeping track of multiple rooms twice (one for each world).

Finals Standings:
1) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Boost and Spider Ball, no Light/Dark)
2) Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Boost and Spider Ball)
3) Metroid Prime

Originality
This should be a pretty obvious one considering the core gameplay and visual mechanics remained the same in all three Metroid games. When MP first came out there was some fear from the Metroid fanbase that the transition from 2D to 3D wouldn't be so smooth. Since the release of MP there have been three Metroid Prime games released (counting Metroid Prime Hunters for the DS) so the fans were definitely pleased. Everything from the edges of the visor being visible to the drops of rain that hit Samus' visor, the fans were impressed. The transition from Super Metroid to Metroid Prime has been compared to the Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past to Ocarina of Time transition. It is that good.

MP2 was also a splendid game but, in the originality department, failed to make any real impact. In fact, the whole Light/Dark World could be regarded as a step back in originality if you look at Link to the Past released for the Super Nintendo. There were new features, weapons, and visors but there wasn't anything quite as ground breaking as the brand new control scheme or the new motion controls found in MP3.

Final Standings:
1) Metroid Prime
2) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
3) Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Metroid Prime Trilogy Comparison: Day 1

2007-09-17T13:22:00.000-06:00

First of all let me apologize to anyone out there that may not enjoy or care about the Metroid series because the rest of this week will be a comparison of the past games in the Metroid Prime trilogy. Throughout the week I am going to be comparing my personal beliefs as to which of the three Metroid Prime games is the best in certain categories. I will touch on things such as graphics, enemies, weapons, and puzzles. Today I will be discussing controls.

Controls
The one thing that really sets Metroid apart from other first-person games, in the control department, is the option to lock-on to enemies. The much loved Z-targeting system, initially conceived in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, allows you to lock-on to certain enemies and strafe around them. In MP and MP2 when you are locked onto an enemy every shot that is fired is directed towards that enemy. MP3 offers a slightly different take on the lock-on by allowing you to aim independently of your targeted enemy. This is extremely helpful later in the game during the more intense battles against multiple enemies. MP3 also allows you, due to the differing Wiimote controls, to strafe without having to target an enemy. This is a huge benefit when trying to cruise around the environments.

To add to the brilliant control setup that is the Metroid series, MP3 added some context sensitive situations involving the Wiimote. Rather than coming to a door and pushing "A" to open it, Retro Studios implemented various motion-based activities. There are times you must twist, pull, turn, and lift various levers or knobs to open or adjust doors and switches. And it all happens at a 1:1 ratio to your real life movements. Perhaps the best addition to the controls in MP3 or it's predecessors is the IR aiming that the Wiimote allows. You are free to look up and down as well as left and right similar to how you control a cursor with a mouse and keyboard.

Finals Standings:
1) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
2) TIE: Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Visors
Visors play a large role in the Metroid Prime games, especially if you are a gamer who cares about the story. In order to gain the most out of the story you must use Samus' Scan Visor to scan the surroundings and read more information about the history of the planet and characters. In addition to the Scan Visor there are multiple other visors, some unique to each game. MP has the X-Ray Visor and Thermal Visor, MP2 has the Dark Visor and the Echo Visor, MP3 has the X-Ray Visor and the Command Visor. You will see the X-Ray Visor from MP below.

I find both the Dark Visor and rarely used Echo Visor to be pretty lame and uneventful when compared to the other options MP and MP3 offer. Both of the X-Ray Visors have simliar effects but based on appearance alone I prefer the look of MP's X-Ray Visor to that of MP3. One feature that the X-Ray Visor in MP3 has is it allows you to see through enemies bodies and determine weak points where you zoom in and take them out from the inside. That leads us to a comparison of the remaining visors: Thermal (MP) and Command (MP3). I personally find the Command Visor to be more appealing in regards to originality but in terms of total usefulness the Thermal Visor is superior. The Command Visor is only useful in rooms with no ceiling whereas the Thermal Visor is useful in any room. In the end, I must give the nod to MP3 for creativity and a new feature for the X-Ray Visor, but only by a tiny margin.

Final Standings:
1) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
2) Metroid Prime
3) Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Metroid Prime 3 Finishes an Incredible Trilogy

2007-09-14T13:43:00.000-06:00

It's the little things in Metroid Prime 3 that really get to me. Well let me correct that, it's the little things in the entire Metroid Prime trilogy that get to me. From the beginning of Prime seeing the raindrops splash on your visor to the end of Prime 3 (I won't ruin it for you) I have been extremely impressed. Yes, there are major things in the trilogy such as incredible morphball puzzles, a genuinely unique way to control a first person game, and potentially the best boss fight of all time in Quadraxis, but it's the little things that make me truly love these games.

In the image below you will notice four blue lights, they look like little bars, at the top of Samus' visor. These little blue lights will change over time as you play the game to allow the user to know the battery power of your remote. You never have to leave the game by pressing the Wiimote's "Home" button to check on battery level, it checks that for you inside the confines of the game. No more breaking the fourth wall.

It may have taken me a while to figure this out but I was happy when I did. After playing through Metroid Prime 3 I noticed a set of four lights at the top of the visor screen that made no sense to me. When my roommate played the game two of the four lights were always blue with an occassional change to a single yellow light. The next night I was playing the game and noticed that my top lights were always set to a single yellow light with no flicker to any other color.

The last two Metroid games had a danger meter on the visor so initially I thought that's what this was. After another hour of playing the game the light changed to a red light with a battery warning a few minutes later. Then it hit me, Metroid is such an incredible game at immersing you in the environment that it even tells you when you (the player) is running low on battery. If you run low on battery, so does Samus. It's a simple thing, and most likely meaningless to some, but I found it to be an incredible added touch.

It is official, the Metroid Prime games are the most immersive games I have ever played. This was just the final straw I needed to make me see that.

Game Gym Almost Ended Today [UPDATED]

2007-09-12T15:45:00.000-06:00

Well today was the day that almost marked the official end of the Game Gym blog. In other words, I almost died. The company that I work for isn't but a few miles away from a small market airport. All day everyday we see planes flying nice and low heading towards and away from the airport. Well today a plane was running low on gas as they came in for a landing. The plane successfully pointed towards our window and cut the engine. It's a good thing they did cut the engine though because if they would have crashed another 1/4 mile West it would have hit me...and I would have certainly died. Check out the article or just see the images below.

UPDATE: Here is another picture that one of my co-workers took with his nice high-res camera phone. And yes, that's me in the picture pointing out the plane crash. You know, in case you didn't see it.

Gameboy Advance SP B-Day Cake

2007-09-10T14:32:00.000-06:00

Ok, I must have one of the coolest bosses around town. His youngest son, age 4 now, is a big Gameboy gamer. His birthday was coming up and my boss was getting him a Nintendo DS as an upgrade to his Gameboy Advance SP. My bosses wife started to notice a Nintendo theme happening so she thought she would make a Gameboy SP cake. Below, you will see the cake in all its glory.

Awesome Tetris Shirt

2007-09-06T11:19:00.001-06:00

After reading this blog post I was perusing around some various t-shirt retailers for some neat or funny [game related?] shirts and I came across this one at BustedTees.com. I would love to get this for myself but it has a curse word on the front and I am sort of against plastering profanities anywhere on my body. The concept of the shirt on the other hand is simply brilliant, or at least I enjoyed it.

I know for a fact this is the type of shirt that many people, even the so-called casual gamer, will understand and enjoy for two major reasons. The first reason, it uses a common statement that many people are familiar with. I mean, come on, it was in Forrest Gump for goodness sake. The second reason is the fact that Tetris sold about 40 million copies not including all the generic rip-offs on cell phones these days. So there is definitely a familiarity for most people. It just works on so many levels. What do you guys think of the shirt?

Nintendo Spreading Hardware Even Thinner

2007-09-05T10:09:00.000-06:00

Ok, this just doesn't make sense to me. News24 announced today that Nintendo will launch the Wii in South Africa starting this October. So....... you are already struggling to meet demand everywhere else in the world why spread your resources even thinner? [/sarcasm] It has been rumored that the company has started giving Japanese systems to North America in order to help meet demand in that region. Why would the company decide to launch the system in a whole new country right before the holiday season? Does Nintendo have a surplus of systems just hiding somewhere waiting for the holidays or are they trying to keep the "sold out everywhere" idea in consumers' heads by limiting hardware allocation?
Can someone please explain this to me; is there another option that I'm missing?

Wii Sales Dropping In Japan

2007-08-31T11:41:00.000-06:00

Welp, it appears Nintendo has started to hit its stopping point in Japan. The hardware sales for last week in Japan shows the Nintendo Wii as only selling 46,283 units. Compared to last week's sales, 73,938 units sold, the system dropped by 63%. That is a pretty drastic drop in sales if you ask me.

HDW	Sales
DSL	100,430
Wii	46,283
PSP	26,089
PS3	16,393
PS2	15,139
Xbox360	2,044
GBM	423
GBASP	163
GC	116
GBA	65
DS	30

But why would this happen you ask? What could change in one week to drop the sales so drastically? Well, I may have the answer.

Last month Nintendo posted record sales for the Nintendo Wii (it outsold the DS Lite) and it took the first place position in North America. Many were wondering how this could happen considering Nintendo's failed attempts at increasing production. The answer: massive allocation change. Nintendo, for whatever reason, was rumored to have relocated a large portion of Wiis to North America to increase sales in that area. These new sales numbers definitely help support those rumors. It is also important to note that all hardware sales were down in Japan this week for all systems. What a hoot!

Power Consumption vs. System Size

2007-08-30T16:19:00.000-06:00

Today it was announced that Wired.com has discovered a few interesting facts about the current generation of videogame consoles (that's right, I called them the "current" gen). Wired performed a test using a power consumption tool that detects the amount of power being used by a certain electronic device. The results they found were actually quite staggering. The system with the highest power consumption is the Xbox 360 Elite with 194 watts. In second place with 171 watts is the Playstation 3. And the remaining current gen system, the Wii, only requires 17 watts.

And if the numbers alone aren't enough to demonstrate the massive seperation between these powerhouse systems I thought I would make this simple little graph (above). You may also notice a similarity in the size of the systems versus the amount of power consumed. The Wii is by far the smallest system compared to the similarly sized PS3 and Xbox 360.

Gamecube Controller Possibilties

2007-08-29T14:31:00.000-06:00

Some awesome news was discovered by Gizmodo today regarding a prototype controller for the Gamecube back in 2001. A company called Gyration, which Nintendo has invested in, created a sort of hybrid controller with similarities to the PS2 Dual Shock and the Wiimote. If you can imagine a PS2 controller with a detachable right half where the right half then becomes the Wiimote for motion sensing you would have the idea. I just hope they would have made the thing more appealing to look at had they actually released the thing.

I wonder how last generation would have been different had Nintendo went this direction for the Gamecube. Would it have been as successful as the Wii is today? Would both the PS3 and Xbox 360 have motion controls more similar to the Wiimote now? I do know one thing is for certain, without the IR Sensor that the Wiimote has, this GyroPad would not have been as successful. Thoughts?

Metroid or Love

2007-08-28T16:44:00.000-06:00

My copy of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption came in today, I got a call from the roommate and it's sitting on my desk at home, but there is a problem. Tuesdays are typically reserved for real life activities (i.e. girlfriend) but today Metroid came out. What more do I need to say really? The predicament gets even worse when the girlfriend informed me that she wouldn't be upset if I stayed home and gamed rather than hang out with her. This, to most, would actually create a quick solution, "stay home and game." But those out there that actually love their wives or girlfriends know that it's really not all that simple.

I am lost. To game, and potentially not see her for a few days form now, or hang out with her and not get to play Metroid for another week (due to scheduling and weekend trip plans). What should I do?

P.S. This is the 100th post to the Game Gym blog. Congrats to anyone who's read the blog at all during that time.

Holiday Sales Charts Prediction

2007-08-27T13:37:00.000-06:00

After the warm reception of the last Google Trends comparison for games this holiday season on the Nintendo Wii I thought I would make one for all home console's games. Let me know if I missed something here but I believe I got the main games for each system. I wish I could place Grand Theft Auto IV on this list but considering it's not coming out this year anymore it doesn't make sense. Looks to me like Halo 3 will be the big winner with Heavenly Sword at the very bottom and Galaxy and Smash are holding the middle. To me, this sounds just about right.

Now imagine how much better the PS3 would be doing against the other consoles with these other future games. Would having Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid release this year make the battle a littl emore interesting? It appears at least one of them would make a run for the top.

Nintendo Wii Takes First Place

2007-08-23T10:38:00.000-06:00

VG Chartz, a site that gathers unofficial sales numbers for the videogames industry, has announced that Nintendo has taken over the first place position in worldwide market share for the next generation with the Nintendo Wii. I emphasize worldwide market share because the Wii is still about 3 million or so behind the Xbox 360 in market share in North America. The key to Nintendo's success is the fact that they have sold well in all three major regions (North America, Japan, and Europe) rather than extremely well in one region, decent in the other, and totally awful in the third (Japan). According to VG Chartz, the Nintendo Wii holds just over 41% total market share while the Xbox 360 holds right at 41%. The PS3 is currently holding third place with about 17%.

There are a few things to mention with these numbers though. Microsoft's Xbox 360 just released a huge game in Bioshock (receiving rave reviews) and they have the massively selling Halo 3 coming out in September. Granted Nintendo has a decent line-up for the next few months but I could very easily see the next few months going back in favor of the Xbox 360. This holiday season looks to be more trouble for the PS3 with their biggest seller Grand Theft Auto IV being delayed until next year and their next biggest games being Heavenly Sword and Haze, both new IPs that tend not to sell quite as well. This generation seems to be a total flip of last generation. It will be interesting to see where the rest of this battle leads us.

Metroid Prime 3 is Getting Noticed, Why Didn't Hunters

2007-08-22T10:12:00.000-06:00

There are a few things I have noticed recently while reading up on gaming news prior to the release of the new Metroid game. And the major thing, along with the fact that the game should be awesome, is that other developers are actually taking notice of the way Metroid plays rather than ignoring it like they did with Metroid Prime Hunters. Now let me give you a little bit of history on this subject. Metroid Prime Hunters came out for the DS in March of 2006 with the best FPS controls that any handheld has ever seen. Not only does the game control like a dream but the game had some really well implemented online features too. There was voice chat, a rivals system, and multiple games modes to choose from. Since Hunters came out and sold just over a million copies I figured other developers would start pumping out FPS games on the DS with similar features and controls. But I was wrong. Since that games released there have been zero FPS games released for the DS and only one game with voice chat over WiFi Connection (Pokemon Diamond and Pearl).

Recently there have been a few interviews with various game developers that are currently making FPS games for the Wii. There is EA Canada making Medal of Honor Heroes 2 (with 32-player online multiplayer) and there is Demiurge doing the bulk of the development for Brothers in Arms for the Wii. In both interviews they have been asked about Metroid Prime 3 and they have both agreed that the game is influencing the way they control their new games.

IGN: Have you been following Metroid Prime 3? Because people have been saying it really nails FPS controls on the Wii.

Reed: We have absolutely been following it. Every time the tiniest bit of press about Metroid would come out we'd grab it and we'd ask Gearbox and Ubisoft to talk to Nintendo and see what information we could get about what they were doing.

This can only be good news for us gamers, considering Metroid controls wonderfully, but it makes me wonder why this hasn't happened with the DS Metroid. The next DS FPS is Call of Duty 4, one of my more anticipated games for the holiday, and it looks great. But why did it take over a year for this to happen?

Metroid Prime 3 to Use Wii Codes for WiiConnect24 Features

2007-08-21T10:28:00.000-06:00

I found this over at the Nintendo Forums and I got pretty excited. Apparently Metroid Prime 3 will draw from your Wii Address List and not require separate Friend Codes for the exchange of tokens. Basically the tokens are a way to allow your friends to know how much you have accomplished in Metroid Prime 3 and to what degree. For example, if you kill 50 small enemies in a room you may be rewarded with a red token (small reward) but if you kill the final boss in under 2 minutes on the hardest difficulty you could receive a gold token (high reward). This is sort of an "achievement" system similar to the Xbox 360. The best part, however, is the fact that you don't have to insert more 12 digit numbers for the WiiConnect24 features to work.

If you watch the Gametrailers preview at 4:45 seconds it shows the page for exchanging tokens, after that it shows your friend roster and says "Friends in black currently have a save file for MP3" so does that mean it's looking in your Wii adress book and at your friends data to see if they have saves? I hope so! I don't wanna keep using different FC's for every game." Click here to see the video.

Metroid vs Super Mario vs Smash Bros

2007-08-20T13:19:00.000-06:00

In honor of the great (or at least we all hope) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption coming out next week I thought I should do a little research (and I use that term loosely) to see which of Nintendo's big games will sell more this year. With Nintendo claiming this month to be the month of Metroid I figured there would be no better time to compare Metroid Prime 3 to Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros Brawl. According to the popularity of Google searches, Super Mario is a far more important and searched brand. Somewhat unfair though due to the fact that "Super Mario" could easily be connected to a game like Super Paper Mario or New Super Mario Bros for the Nintendo DS.

In the end Metroid is the weakest of the brands and, in all reality, will most likely sell far fewer copies than that of the other two. But who really cares if it sells less than those other behemoths if the game ends up being as fun as it's past games in the series.

Nintendo's Future Business Plan

2007-08-17T13:31:00.000-06:00

This is entirely rumor and speculation. There is no fact here, simply opinion.

Nintendo is doing it again, they are doing the smart thing from a business standpoint. They are releasing four of their major franchises within the span of the first year of the Wii's lifespan (Zelda, Metroid, Mario, Smash Brothers) in order to get a larger install base for their system. This will help third parties feel confident that a more "hardcore game" can sell on the system and the install base will be huge right out of the gate.

At the same time the company is starting to build an install base of "casual gamers" by releasing new and old franchises (Wii Sports, Big Brain Academy, WiiPlay) to allow them to make more money then they even know what to do with. Big Brain Acedemy is essentially the same game as the DS version with an added "sort of" online mode and the game cost the same as a full priced Wii game, $50. The DS version only cost $20 new and they are essentially the same game for a different system. Not only does the game cost more but it is currently still in the top five for game sales in the UK and Japan. If you can't see where I'm going with this then let me say it straight out: Nintendo makes far more money on a "casual" game than they do on a "hardcore" game that sells the exact same number of units. The reason for this is they can pump out a game that sells the same but costs them a much smaller amount of money, not to mention time. I would be willing to bet that Nintendo could design five Big Brain Academy type games in the same time it would take them to make a Zelda. So essentially, they could make 5 times the money by switching to "casual" games.

What they are going to rely far more on, but not entirely, going into the next few years of the Wii's lifespan is larger third party support. They are going to be banking on the Capcoms, the EAs, the Ubisofts, and the other smaller guys to create these "hardcore" games while they sit back and rake in the dough with "casual" games.

Wii Modification Ideas 2

2007-08-16T09:54:00.000-06:00

Ok, this whole modification thing was just too much fun I had to do some more. Below you will see, in addition to the other blog entry on the same topic, another modification idea of mine for the Wii. Be sure and tell me what you think. Or even better, make some of your own. I will most likely post a few more of these before too long so be sure and make them quick before your idea is stolen by someone else. And feel free to make some PS3 and Xbox 360 modifications too.

This new modification for the day is actually something that you can have on your system by way of a third-party accessory but I thought it would be neat to have one built right in. Basically, it's a television screen right there on the side of the system. Now I know a corner of the screen is cut off by the Wii stand but you get the idea. You may also notice two little red lights above the TV screen. Those lights represent the built-in sensor bar. Obviously they wouldn't really be lit up, since they are IR, but I had to show where they would be somehow.

Wii Modification Ideas

2007-08-15T11:43:00.000-06:00

I saw an image of a Nintendo Wii the other day and a crazy little idea hit me. What if Nintendo released a Wii that was black and had red colored lights instead of blue. And hey, while we're at it, why not make some other changes. Let me know what you think of these system modifications.

This bad boy would be the exact same system as the Wii is currently (don't mind the black color) but it would be about 70% the size of the current one. Yeah I know, the Wii is already ridiculously small but this way you could literally fit the thing anywhere. Rather than being about the size of three DVD cases together, this thing would be about the size of three CD cases together. Only issue, it would require the smaller Gamecube sized discs, but I'm sure by now they can fit more memory on those little suckers.

Now here's the crème de la crème. You know how super sweet the DS is because the thing has two screens? Well imagine how cool the Wii would be with two slots. You could use one to listen to CDs while you played a game. You could use the second slot for mass storage onto DVDs. Or you could use the PIP (picture in picture) on your TV to play two games at once. Or even better, sick of playing games out of the left slot? Then use the right slot next time. The possibilities are endless.

Do any of you have any sweet Wii modification ideas or other uses for mine? Let me know.

Sonic the Hedgehog in Smash Brothers Brawl?

2007-08-14T08:23:00.000-06:00

Not sure if Best Buy actually knows anything at all about a certain game they will be selling in the next few months, Super Smash Bros Brawl, but they appear to think that Sonic the Hedgehog will be making an appearance in the game. At this point he still seems like a very likely choice for a second third-party character to join the ranks (alongside Snake from Metal Gear Solid) but nothing has been confirmed. If you're a Sonic lover, looking at this promotional material from Best Buy, there could be a chance your dreams come true. Or maybe the guy who made this has no clue about gaming and thinks Sonic is a Nintendo character so he thought he'd put him on there. Who knows?

Grand Theft Auto IV Downloads Cost Microsoft Millions

2007-08-13T11:38:00.000-06:00

I was listening to an EGM Podcast a few weeks back and for some reason never thought to mention anything about a blurb I heard while listening. The news that I speak of has to do with the recently delayed Grand Theft Auto IV. The Xbox 360, in case you haven't heard, has some exclusive downloadable missions and whatnot that the PS3 version will not have. This, however, did not come to Microsoft's system without a cost. According to the EGM Podcast obtaining these exclusive extras cost them a hefty $25 million.

I would imagine, despite the fact this seems like a major amount of money, this will come back to them very quickly. I know quite a few people personally who are going to purchase the Xbox version of this game simply because of these extra missions. In all reality, unless you were a single system PS3 owner already, I would find it hard to buy a version of the game that I know will have less gameplay. I wonder how Sony will fight back, or if they will at all.

Super Mario Strikers Challenge

2007-08-06T13:35:00.000-06:00

It's time to test your gaming skill. Here at the Game Gym we like to keep you on your toes and give you various feats of strength to test your gaming ability. This week's challenge has to do with the newly released Super Mario Strikers for the Nintendo Wii. Your goal, and we like pictures for proof, is to win the Fire Cup (first cup option) on any difficulty in it's entirety without allowing a single goal to be scored on you. The captain you use is up to your discretion, as well as the sidekicks, but the final score for every game had better be ?-0. If you find yourself struggling then feel free to read some of the tips I have dropped below. But for a slightly harder challenge, don't read them.

TIPS:

Possession is key, even if it means holding the ball in corners rather than scoring more goals.

Slide tackle more often than you hard tackle. This limits the number of items and weapons they get.

You are better off allowing the captain to charge a Mega Strike (on the Normal difficulty) than you are letting the sidekick charge because they typically don't hit the orange and the sidekicks will knock the goalie out.

Diddy Kong is the best character to keep the scores low using his Red Card special attack. Using it wisely can gain you a two-person advantage making time wasting and possession easy.

Wii Channel: Let Us Know Our Own Gaming Habits

2007-08-03T08:48:00.000-06:00

Everytime I receive WiiMail messages I get this feeling like Nintendo missed out on a great opportunity. The messages I'm talking about are the ones you see after you visit a Wii Channel or game and play a few minutes. You receive a Wii message with the total amount of time played that day for each channel or game. The problem is this appears to be where the data collection ends, at least on our side. I'm sure Nintendo is sitting in their cleanly polished, white offices just laughing at the fact that they know all of our gaming habits. The least they could do is share some of this data with us.

I started thinking, after reading a blog entry about personal annual reports, how cool it would be to know the amount of time I have spent on each game throughout the year. I know I could just as well go back through and chart my gaming habits on my own using the WiiMail messages but that's just not something I am willing to do. So it hit me, why don't they give us some details displaying our hours played for each game similar to the graphs Brain Age and Wii Sports have?

Perhaps a bar graph for the hours spent on each game this month.

It would also be a neat idea to allow (not force) users to sign in using their Mii character so the system could analyze and collect data based on each user's experience rather than the system as a whole. This way a mother or father could easily tell when each child is playing a game and help monitor play time without having to ask the older siblings who's hours were played for each game. I may be getting a little off the subject here but the possibilities are limitless. Perhaps a star would appear on your chart when a particular game you were playing was completed. Who can get the most stars?

Maybe a line graph for the hours spent on all games for my profile.

I wouldn't mind a bar graph informing me the hours played for all profiles.

I would love to have this released in a new Wii Channel with a few online features. How neat would it be to compare your graph for the month (or year) with a friend of yours that you have exchanged Wii Codes with? This would help those exchanged Wii Codes seem worth something; not to mention the rivalry that would come with collecting stars. And can you imagine the marketing possibilties for Nintendo? If 10 of your friends all purchased Mario Galaxy and have been playing it five hours a day it would give you more incentive to buy the game yourself. Would any of you guys enjoy a feature like this or am I sitting out here on this pedestal alone?

Off Next Week

2007-08-03T08:44:00.000-06:00

Hey there everyone. I just wanted to inform you all that I will be gone all next week in a foreign country so there is little to no chance that I will be able to post any updates of any kind. But in my absence I have a little bit longer and well thought out post for later today that should keep conversation interesting for a day or so. So feel free to bring today's later topic to other forums and see what their opinions are on this idea as well. That should keep the conversation going a little longer.

Grand Theft Auto Delayed Til Next Year

2007-08-02T15:34:00.000-06:00

Oh my goodness, Rockstar Games is simply struggling right now. Today Reuters announced that the hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV will not release this year but rather sometime in the second quarter of '08. This is a total disaster considering they have already announced they are no longer releasing Manhunt 2 for any system. So my question to them is what games are they going to release this fall in order to make up for the loss of revenue this year. I seriously doubt a few Wii ports of Table Tennis and Bully are going to ease the pain.

Honestly, I think this is far worse news for PS3 and Sony fans because they don't exactly have that many huge games (Heavenly Sword could be awesome) coming this fall to replace the lack of such a huge title. Xbox 360 on the other hand has Halo 3, a total huge seller that is now in no way being combated by any other game. If only MGS 4 were coming out this year that could help lessen the blow.

Picross Marketing Got Me

2007-08-01T14:14:00.001-06:00

Nintendo's (if it was even them who did it) marketing worked on me. I heard tell of a certain new Nintendo DS game that was released this week called Picross. It's a new puzzle game with similarities to Brain Age and Sudoku. A new website was made available this week to coincide with the game's release that allows you to try the game using the Wii Web Browser. Head on over to WiiPicross to play the game yourself on your computer or hit it up on your Wii. One way or another, I fell in love with the demo online and now I am heading to EB Games today to pick up the game for my 24 hours car ride to Canada next week.

The best part about this game though is you can create your own puzzles simply by drawing shapes and designs using the stylus and the game alters the image into a Picross puzzle. So if you ever need a new challenging puzzle you can always close your eyes, draw some lines on the screen (or have a friend do it), and then turn it into a puzzle. This is all done at the awesome Touch Generations price of $19.99.

Super Mario Strikers Wii Final Impressions [Update 1]

2007-07-31T11:50:00.000-06:00

My Super Mario Strikers battles continue and the further I get along with the game the more little issues I have found with the game. One's not really an issue so much as a personal preference, the other though, is most certainly an issue.

The first issue is the fact that I was in 6th place in the nation with my online ranking at the end of last week and now the season is over. I went online last night and discovered I was now ranked in 594th place with no wins or losses and no record of the previous week. This little fault, to me at least, seems a little dissapointing. So you can play a ton of games one week to gain some ground in the rankings, but you can't play the game slowly and gradually garner rankings. Maybe there is a constant comparison with your friends (no one has accepted my friend code requests yet) but as of right now it appears everything is erased at the end of each seven day season. Bummer.

The other issue is in regards to the single player experience. I will sum this up in as quick a way as possible: the Mega Strike has no effect in later levels of the cups. Even if you get a charged Mega Strike with six shots and a perfect orange finish and he will block all six shots. Sometimes though, you will get a three shot Mega Strike with a grey charge and you will score all three. There is no consistency or reward for obtaining the far more difficult orange Mega Strikes. It would be one thing to make them harder to get by increasing the difficulty of the AI but making them entirely obsolete is just wrong.

All in all though, this game is very addictive and a ton of fun, especially if you play through the online and cups with a friend. Enjoy Nintendo sports games? Then buy this game. Not sure if you like Nintendo sports games? This could be the one that hooks you; try it.

[Update:] I forgot to inform you guys what my Mario Strikers Friend Code is. Just post a comment with your Friend Code if you want to exchange.

141840 088198

See you on the field... suckas!!!

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Selling Like Mad

2007-07-30T13:30:00.000-06:00

Forget hotcakes, I think the saying needs to be switched to "those things are selling like Pokemon."

If anyone out there is at all concerned about the business side of gaming and Nintendo in particular there is some good news. The company just released news that the most recent Pokemon titles, Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl, have sold over 10 million games worldwide. Apparently 5.2 million of that are Japanese and the rest are from the Americas. Some of the better news though is the fact that the game just released in Europe three days ago so the sales are only going to get higher.

For those of you wondering, that's $350 million dollars worth of total sales for one game (two if you want to be technical). Wow.

Call of Duty 4 on the DS, Potential Greatness

2007-07-27T13:14:00.000-06:00

Well it took me a while to get back to my topic about good DS games at E3, since I have been playing Mario Strikers since Wednesday, but I would like to inform everyone of the greatness that could be Call of Duty 4 for the Nintendo DS. There is a great video and interview over at IGN if you want to read up a little more about it. The main thing getting me excited for the game are the graphics and the controls. The game controls very similarly to Metroid Prime Hunters for the DS and the graphics, for a system with lower specs, looks fantastic. There are huge 3-D environments and great looking explosions. The most impressive thing about this game is the massive amount of action happening on the screen at any one time. At one time in the trailer there is a helicopter getting shot down and you really feel immersed in the game, and it's just a trailer.

One reason I am so impressed from one trailer and interview about a game is the fact that I trust the development team. The team making this game is the team that made Geist for the Nintendo Gamecube, n-space. That game's single player was only ok mostly because the team couldn't decide if it should be an FPA (Metroid Prime, Bio Shock) or an FPS (Goldeneye, Halo). The game controlled like a dream and the multiplayer was fantasic. I know Call of Duty will be more of an action game, the best elements from Geist, based on the way the series has been treated in the past. So n-space can concentrate on the things that matter most, war killing gun shooting action.

Super Mario Strikers Wii Impressions

2007-07-26T13:36:00.000-06:00

Super Mario Strikers, from the first few hours of online and offline play, is the typical Nintendo-type game. You could give the controller(s) to a 10 year old and tell them what pass, shoot, and steal is and they would have fun. On the other side of the token, us gamers, there is a lot of depth and strategy to the game. There have been some serious upgrades in the character department and the new levels have a lot more personality and difference to them than just appearance. There is one level in particular that has no walls on the outside of the field and the wind randomly blows characters, and cows and trucks, across the field. The graphics are slightly improved over the Gamecube version but the game runs at a constant pace even with multiple objects and characters blowing up all around. The new characters all have their own personality and unique move set that can really alter the play experience if used in the proper fashion.

Two player co-op gaming is a ton of fun as well, much like the old game, because you can have one player defend the other while they charge up a shot or you can intricately pass the ball around the field to build up the "pressure" of the ball. The game actually rewards you for successfully passing the ball around the field by charging the ball the more passes you complete. When the ball is fully charged (and glowing white) your shots will be far more accurate and powerful.

The online gaming, though no where near Xbox Live quality, is a great step in the right direction. There are online leaderboards comparing you to random strangers and your friends in various different ways. The major selling point to Strikers' online experience is the fact that you are actually competing in an online league. You get points dependent on your win/loss/scoring record and it rates you against others within that week (the length of every league). The game requires you to input a unique Friend Code different from your Wii Code which is really unnecessary no matter how you look at it. There is also no voice chat or communication of any kind. I would have preffered to at least choose from a list of 40 or so sayings rather than not have the option at all. All around it really is a fun experience and one that any Nintendo only gamer should gobble up, especially with the use of Miis as your online avatar.

Resident Evil 5 Will Be Awesome

2007-07-26T09:44:00.000-06:00

Resident Evil 5 is looking even better than I could have ever imagined. I either hope this game comes out while I have an Xbox 360 to play or the price drops down to a point where I can afford one because this is just the type of game that I would buy a system for. Check out the gifs below from the larger trailer released right here.

Super Mario Strikers Is In The House

2007-07-25T09:21:00.001-06:00

It's official, I just got Super Mario Strikers this morning. What's that you ask, that game doesn't come out for another week or so? That's fine, I'm still the "main Nintendo guy" in the eyes of my old EB Games manager so whenever he gets any Wii or DS games shipped to him early, he gives them to me. I will be playing around with the game tonight and I will have some first impressions sometime tomorrow.

I will also supply my friend code tomorrow so if anyone wants to befreind me and play some serious online soccer gaming then let me know your code and we can link up.

Nintendo DS E3 Gems

2007-07-24T12:54:00.000-06:00

I was initially quite disappointed with the E3 showing of the Nintendo DS (aside from Zelda of course), but after doing some searching around I have actually found two very impressive looking titles, not to mention Advance Wars DS 2 that was announced secretly. The first of these titles is a game version of the classic Looney Toons cartoon Duck Amuck and the second one I will be discussing tomorrrow.

The basis of the cartoon Duck Amuck was when an artist continued to erase and re-draw Daffy Duck. This new game, from the creators of the new Contra 4 game for the DS, is basically the same concept except you are the artist. You can erase certain parts of Daffy's body and draw new parts for various effects, record new voice-overs with the microphone, and when you close the DS Daffy will continue to talk to you while you press the L and R buttons to control his voice. These are exactly the types of crazy things the DS needs more of, unique uses for the unique device. Now how this will all make for a full game environment is still yet to be seen, but with these ideas could you really go wrong.

June NPD Software and Hardware Sales

2007-07-24T08:17:00.000-06:00

Hardware sales:

DS - 562,000 units
Wii - 381,800 units
PS2 - 270,000 units
PSP - 230,100 units
Xbox 360’s - 198,400 units
GBA - 113,000 units
PS3 - 98,500 units

Top 10 software:

1. Mario Party 8 - Wii (Nintendo) - 426,200 units
2. Wii Play - Wii (Nintendo) - 293,200 units
3. Pokemon Diamond - DS (Nintendo) - 288,400 units
4. Pokemon Pearl - DS (Nintendo) - 214,700 units
5. Forza Motorsport 2 - Xbox 360 (Microsoft) - 197,400 units
6. Guitar Hero II- PS2 (Activision) - 197,350 units
7. Guitar Hero II - Xbox 360 (Activision) - 177,600 units
8. Pokemon Battle Revolution -Wii (Nintendo) - 157,900 units
9. Resident Evil 4 - Wii (Capcom)
10. The Darkness - Xbox 360 (Take Two)

Two things to point out with these June NPD numbers. The Gameboy Advance (a dying system that Nintendo is no longer really supporting) beat out the PS3 again this month. This has actually been happening quite often recently but I am wondering if the temporary price drop with the PS3 will change that?

The other thing to make mention of is the fact that Resident Evil 4 (a remake from a 2-year old game) beat out a brand new game on the Xbox 360 in a similar genre, The Darkness. The major thing to point out here is the fact that RE4 couldn't have cost Capcom too much dough since it was already made two years ago for the GameCube and The Darkness was a game with a budget in the millions of dollars.

Microsoft Must Enjoy Losing Money

2007-07-20T14:24:00.000-06:00

Today was the day Microsoft released its financial numbers for the 2007 fiscal year (the Xbox division) and let's just say this: it's a good thing Microsoft isn't a games only company. By the end of the fiscal year, which ended on June 30, Microsoft had posted a loss of $1.9 billion. That's no typo, it's billion. Apparently the fourth quarter was the cause of $1.2 billion in loss so the fact that they can't keep a system working consistently isn't helping them.

So here's my question for Microsoft. How much longer can you afford to "buy" your way into this growing gaming market until you just cut yourself from the race?

Miyamoto Differs In Developement Process

2007-07-19T13:01:00.000-06:00

Over at Wired News, there's a great interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, the Nintendo King and creator of Mario, Zelda, and pretty much everything else the company has created. There was one point of the interview that I found to be of particular interest:

Wired News: Have you played Guitar Hero or Rock Band?
Shigeru Miyamoto: I haven't played them very much. And of course, I play guitar myself. And I find that when I have played them, I want something more complicated, because I know how to play the guitar. But I do think that those games feel very good, because once you start playing those games and getting into the rhythm it feels very good indeed. Really, because we're still working on Wii Music, I try not to pay too much attention to other music games because I don't want to be influenced by them.

Miyamoto has such a different developing style than everyone else in the industry because he can honestly care less about comparing his projects to others. He creates games to be the way he wants them and how he feels the gamer will have the most fun. There's a reason everyone loves Miyamoto, and that's because without him and others like him to innovate in the industry it slowly hits a decline of interest. Everyone tries to out-do the competition rather than create something no one else has ever seen. Here's looking at you Hollywood.

Super Mario Piano Style

2007-07-18T15:39:00.000-06:00

If you like the original Super Mario Bros and enjoy the sound of piano music this is your thing. Click here to check it out.

Super Paper Mario Complaints: Part II

2007-07-18T08:55:00.000-06:00

I've been playing Super Paper Mario (Wii) recently now that I beat Resident Evil 4 again and I've honestly not been all that impressed with certain sections. I think a part of it is the fact that I'm not typically the biggest fan of RPG games and this is an RPG game, different type, but still an RPG game. It's not that I haven't enjoyed any of the game because certain parts have been quite a bit of fun. There are some neat little puzzles using the 2D/3D flip mechanic and the different use of characters can be neat at times. There have just been some parts of the game that don't make any sense to me, and in a Nintendo game these things are just so rare to see.

The first major qualm is the interesting running mini-game that got me watching TV while I held left on the d-pad, if you don't remember it click here. The most recent thing that happened to me was when I was asked to say please to someone by typing "please" on an in-game keyboard, and not just once but it required me to type it 6 times. The worst part about it though is the fact that when you typed a wrong letter you had to start all over again. In the end I typed the word 9 times (once for using a "P" instead of a "p"). Maybe if I got to use the IR sensor it could have been at least somewhat entertaining, but no, I had to use the d-pad.

The next thing that irked me, right after asking please, was this little villager who gave me a combination for a lock. He told me to get a piece of paper and a pen to write it down but I figured he was only joking. Lo and behold, I actually had to get a piece of paper and a pen to write down the combo because it was about 25 steps long. Talk about breaking the 4th Wall and taking the gamer out of the experience. Maybe this type of thing is common in RPGs, or an attempt at humor, but I am simply not a fan.

Mario Galaxy, Not Quite Super Mario 3 Caliber?

2007-07-17T16:16:00.001-06:00

I was in such a giddy little mood after seeing that Bee Mario suit image for Mario Galaxy that I just started speculating about the game and making assumptions. Well I am here to tell you that there are a few things that need to be told about this whole "back to the old days of suits like in Mario 3" business.

The first thing to note is this little quote from an IGN hands-on preview of the game at E3:

After activating a power-up spot, a black and golden mushroom will show up. Touch the mushroom, and you go into Bee Mario mode, where Mario dons a new sleek bee suit, and can now hover for about five seconds.

This is slighly disappointing, and could be different in the final game, because this is potentially different from the Tanooki and Racoon Suits of Mario 3 fame. The reason I say this could be much different is because I have a feeling you can only don the Bee Suit in Honey Bee Galaxy.

The best part about the suits in Super Mario 3 was that all the suits were scattered all over the world for use in pretty much every area. And if there weren't a direct place to find a Hammer Suit, you could always find one in a Mushroom House and don the suit before each level. That was one of the best parts about the suits, they gave the game so much replayabilty.

So does this mean I am no longer excited for the potential of suits in Mario Galaxy? Not in the slightest. I just hope we have the option to take these suits anywhere in the game and use them at any time. I would totally love to fight Bowser (or whoever the final boss ends up being) in a Bee or Boo suit. Is that too much to ask Nintendo?

P.S. Please watch some video of Super Mario Galaxy if you haven't seen any yet. You can check out one of the few right here if you don't feel like Googling it yourself. Just be careful, your head could explode due to massive potential of fun.