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September 02 The Conduit
The demo that I played was a "pre-Alpha" version of the game, meaning it had a lot of programming done, but still a few bugs. Well, when I played that demo - I sure didn't see any significant bugs! Smooth motion, great responsiveness to my remote's position, great sensitivity to my motion with the Nunchuk and Wii Remote. After playing the demo on Saturday, I talked with High Voltage's Chief Creative Officer, Eric Nofsinger about the game, trying to glean as much information about it as I possibly could. I also went back Sunday to ask even more questions, as well as show my friends how awesome this game was going to be. The game is chock full of conspiracy theories - they created a 140 page document on conspiracy theories and used it for the game's storyline. Each main character in the game has a name identical to the last names of an U.S. President; for example, the main character you play is named Agent Ford. Agent Ford is an ex-Secret Service agent, and he soon notices that people are acting strange. He is recruited by a group called The Trust, and they explain to him that Earth has come under attack by aliens called the Drudge. His mission is to go and find out why this attack occurred in the first place. Although I did not see it in the demo, in each of the levels, there is some aspect of puzzle solving, starting with simple locking/unlocking puzzles and increasing in difficulty throughout. The puzzles can also involve the environment, such as shooting down a telephone pole to create a bridge to cross a gap. Although there are still 6 months left to go before the planned release (March 2009), pre-production of The Conduit 2 has already begun. High Voltage has already decided on a publisher - the documents are being finalized. Here's the Breakdown Controls: When I played the game, I stuck with the default controls; I didn't see any problems with it. But while I was watching other players play it, they opened up the settings menu to customize thir own choices. The sensitivity customization is done in-game; you move your character around and keep adjusting as much as you like until you're pleased with it. Environment: The game does allow you to use the environment to do damage, but it was not present in the demo that I played. There are no assistant non-player characters to help you out. Game Breakdown The battlefields that you will play on include the Library of Congress, the Jefferson Memorial, the Pentagon, and even the White House! All the battlefields you can play on are a part of the story and are also available to play in multiplayer mode. Side Quests ("Plot Hunting") Difficulty Graphics Multiplayer They're mostly focusing on Wi-Fi Multiplayer instead of same-console multiplayer. For Wi-Fi play, the plan is to have at least 16 players playing on the same map. LAN play in is in the works; High Voltage is currently in talks with Nintendo about getting it approved. Downloadable Content Without further ado, here's the preview, provided to me from High Voltage! April 28 Mario Kart WiiAll right. I promised part 2 of the SSBB review, but I just had to play the new major title that came out:
Mario Kart Wii!
To start with, I'll give you a heads-up of why it's so cool.
A new device comes packaged with this game: The Wii Wheel.
The Wiimote fits into this device, and you hold it just like you would a normal driving wheel (well, 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock, at least).
The awesome part about using this is while you drive your kart/bike, move the wheel's top edge upward when you go off a ramp, and you'll perform a trick!
And they're pretty cool at that, too.
"So what?"
Well, whenever you perform a trick, when you land (and you will always land safely on your wheels), you are immediately rewarded with a turbo-boost. Pretty awesome, huh?
If you're a bike, when you drive on a straight part of track, when you move the wheel's top edge, you pop a wheelie! And if that isn't cool enough, when you do it, you accelerate a lot faster, and that additional speed lasts for about 4-5 seconds before it fades away.
"Ok, cool. But is it easy to play?"
So I have played through all of the 50cc Kart tracks, 100cc Bike tracks, and about halfway through the 150cc Bike & Kart tracks, and I like it a lot.
I still have to get used to turning a little bit, since it does differentiate between karts and bikes. For one, bikes turn a lot sharper than karts - and that's actually mentioned in the instruction book (like anyone reads that anymore, huh?). So this can be a sudden shock when going from one type to another. Two, I have yet to figure out how the best way to hold the wheel for turning. Sometimes it's perpendicular, others, it's about a 45 degree angle. So when I sometimes need to make a sharp turn, I'll often fly off or crash into a wall, or go around a circular tube, completely losing my sense of direction. But these two "problems" just come from not having practiced enough. Anyone who plays Mario Kart Wii is going to have to practice a little bit before they actually get used to the controls - that's a dead given. I introduced my friends to this game Sunday, and each had a bit of frustration with the Wii Wheel. After a bit of time, they were a little more used to the controls (we won't mention the Rainbow Road incident, however). I have found a few worthwhile straightaway stretches of track to pop wheelies to speed ahead with my bike; tilting the wheel down to end the wheelie takes a little time to get to work - sometimes the angle you hold the wheel when driving won't register when you tilt it down. Thankfully, you can press B to end it. The downside to B? You immediately start to go into a drift, and if you aren't prepared for the turn, you'll start drifting opposite of where you want to go, and then completely lose it (position, items, sense of direction, etc).
So all in all, I really like Mario Kart. "What about online play?"
Oh yeah! This is the best part ever!
Nintendo really, really, I mean really, outdid the online service for Mario Kart Wii.
There are NO glitches, NO hangs, NO delays, NOTHING!
It is in my eyes, flawless...only downside could be is not finding 11 more people to play online with at any single minute of the day.
But you'll often find at least 4 other people to race with.
It's pretty awesome how you hook up to a match - if you came online in the middle of the race, you get to spectate through the remaining part of the race, usually from the viewpoint of the pole position (read: the guy in 1st place), but a few times I've seen the lead get thwomped (no pun intended) before the race ends.
Even spectating has no drawbacks!
"I want to choose my favorite track!"
Yup, you can do it online! However, there is a difference from track selection on Mario Kart DS.
In Mario Kart DS, majority ruled.
But in MK Wii, everyone picks, and then the choice is randomly selected; this means if several people select one specific track, there will be a higher probability the track will be selected, but often times it will not be.
For online racing, you're given a default Virtual Ranking (VR) of 5000. This will go up and down with each race, depending on how you place. The other factor is racing against other people with higher rankings than you. From what I've noticed so far, if you beat someone with a way higher ranking than you, you will gain a lot more points than had you beaten someone with a score lower or equal to your ranking.
As with any game, you're going to have to take some time to get used to the controls to truly enjoy the great control design. (Thankfully, I didn't have to tilt the wheel as much as mentioned by my friend at NOA.) All in all, I strongly suggest you go and buy it! It's much better multiplayer than single player at first (since no one's practiced - ever)...so bring your friends along and start playing! My score: 9/10. March 20 Super Smash Bros. BrawlFinally...after one-and-a-half years of having this game pre-ordered, I HAVE IT!!!
And waiting 29 hours in line to be the first one to get my hands on it was definitely worth it!
As an owner of the previous Super Smash Bros. games, I can say that Brawl definitely has all of the necessary improvements to be now honored as the best Super Smash Bros. game to play either casually or tournament-style!
Nintendo took a lot of effort to make everything just right, and to please everyone possible. And after seeing the final results, I can definitely say the two times they pushed back the release date were worth every penny.
"Why is it that great?"
# of characters
The characters chosen
Improved character moves (and NO Wave-Dashing!!! Yay!)
Multiple taunts for each character (and a few hidden ones, too...
 )Amazing Graphics
Stage Builder
Challenges involving every part of the game to unlock hidden things
An amazing one/two player adventure mode with an actual story
Tons of awesome video game music from a ton of different video games
And On-Line Play!
The # of Characters
The game starts out with the following characters selectable:
- Bowser
- Donkey Kong
- Fox
- Ice Climbers
- Mario
- Peach
- Pikachu - Samus/Zero Suit Samus
- Yoshi
- Zelda/Sheik
- Diddy Kong
- Ike
- King Dedede
- Kirby
- Link
- Lucas
- Meta Knight
- Olimar
- Pit
- Wario
...And there's 15 characters left to unlock!!! (I'll let you figure them out for yourself.) (...Sonic...Snake... :) ) The Characters Chosen
Nintendo did a great job choosing characters to both bring back as well as introduce to players.
They definitely covered all of their bases - even including Zero Suit Samus as a playable character (from Metroid: Zero Mission on GBA).
They expanded on the Kirby franchise by giving us King Dedede - the largest, slowest, but uber-powerful character in the game, as well as giving us Meta Knight - the super-quick flying/sword wielding version of Kirby, who just looks darn cool.
We are finally introduced to one of the lesser known franchises, Pikmin, by way of Olimar. Dressed in a spacesuit, he goes around and pulls up little creatures called Pikmin that will follow him in line wherever he goes. He attacks by throwing them, as well as using them as a whip - which can also used to grapple onto ledges.
Wario! Oh, yeah, him. Definitely an interesting character; I haven't played his character that much - but I will tell you one thing, his level is awesome, straight out of WarioWare! Better make sure you carve a statue or keep dry, and you'll get an awesome power-up, like a Starman!
Pit. Wow. That's amazing - I remember playing Kid Icarus on my Nintendo back when it debuted, and it was really, really hard - but it was fun. I think it's awesome they decided to give the hero of this amazing game his own character - and the Final Smash is just awesome, where he gives the shout-out, and hundreds of winged men soar down and unleash a barrage of arrows on everybody!
Diddy Kong! Some people have definitely wanted to see him as a fighter for quite some time, and I have to admit, he's a good choice! Who knew you could have so much fun firing peanuts at people? Or boosting yourself to safety with hollowed out trees on your back?
Lucas, as not many people know, is from the Mother series - which is found only in Japan; Mother 2, also known as Earthbound here in the U.S., debuted the appearance of Ness, who showed up in Melee. Lucas is a great character - his PK Thunder is amazing, being able to hit an opponent several times while guiding it, so you can juggle your opponent for a long time. In my opinion, his PK Frost is much better than Ness' was.
And Ike. He's from Fire Emblem, another series that debuted in Japan, and made it over to the U.S. eventually (...still haven't opened that Fire Emblem game for my Wii yet...) Great swordsman, somewhat like Marth, but I think Ike's a bit stronger.
On-Line Play
I can't finish this blog entry without talking about this.
This is the best feature ever!
Ever since the debut of Melee in 2001, players everywhere have been yearning for on-line play, and Nintendo finally gave us our wish on March 9th (or 10th, I had heard the servers went down on the debut day - guess they weren't prepared for that many people yet...)
"But what about Friend Codes? They're stupid!"
Well, guess what - they're not necessary if you want to play online!
You get pros for having Friend Codes, but if you're desperate for a quick 2-minute battle, connect and Brawl! Simple as that.
"What pros???"
You can make your own taunt messages, be able to send your friends the stages you built, as well as play on them (I will talk about the Stage Builder in a later blog).
Only downside to all of Brawl? Seeing IGN being super mean for not giving Brawl a well-deserved 100% - the graphics are amazing considering the hardware the Wii has! (And as most people know my sayings, gameplay is much more important in a game than snazzy graphics.)
Brawl got perfect scores from every other important video game reviewer site in existence!
My score out of 10: 15.
It was definitely worth waiting 29 (yes, twenty-nine) hours in line to be the first one in line to purchase and play it!
If you have a Wii, go out ant buy it! If not, go out and buy a Wii and Brawl!
You won't be disappointed.
Thank you Nintendo. You continue to amaze me year in and year out, and this is why I remain a loyal Nintendo fan, tried and true, ever since 1986. You are the king of video games. September 25 Metroid Prime 3All right.
Now that Halo 3 has been officially released, now is the time to finally settle this sad, pathetic argument that has been going on the Nintendo NSider Boards for the past 3 months.
Metroid Prime 3 is not a First Person Shooter. (aka FPS)
Halo 3 is.
Sure, you take one look at Metroid Prime 3, and you see yourself from a First-Person perspective. And firing weapons.
Simple math, and you get a FPS, right?
Wrong.
Metroid has always been an Adventure, no matter what the perspective.
Metroid is much more than shooting aliens and scoring kills.
In Metroid, you are looking for the items that will get you through each of the levels to the final boss.
Along the way, there are many puzzles you need to solve to either get those items or to get to the next boss.
Many of those items are weapons and/or upgrades, and you use those to get further along.
The items can also be the key to fighting the next boss, who will give you the next item to get further as well.
Now, on the other hand, we have Halo 3.
The entire Halo franchise has established itself as the best-of-the-best FPS game platform of all time (or maybe I just heard someone say that...)
Anyways, all you do is go around and frag Covenant alien forces left and right until you progress further and further forward until you defeat the final boss.
In Metroid, you will constantly go back and forth throughout all the levels you have visited in order to retrieve the items you need.
In Halo, you just keep on going forward. You don't really need to have a map to know where you're going to head to next.
So some people now say, "Well, then, Metroid Prime 3 is a First-Person Shooter Adventure!"
You can't do that. FPS is a genre all by itself.
You cannot categorize Metroid Prime 3 as a sub-genre of FPS, because the main gameplay mechanic is Adventure, not Shooting.
Try as you might, you just cannot place Metroid Prime 3 into a "FPS Game of the Year" contest with Halo 3.
You can do "Overall Game of the Year", that's fine - but Super Smash Bros. Brawl will win that, hands down. ;)
Metroid Prime 3 is established as an Adventure game, in the First-Person perspective.
Therefore, it is a First-Person Adventure.
"Well, I've never heard of that genre before!"
Well, not directly. But you have heard of the game Myst, right? You solved puzzles, explored every nook and cranny to open up new areas and eventually finished the game. And it was all done in the First-Person perspective.
And that's what you do in Metroid Prime 3; you just have your missles and gun to aid you through your adventure.
So there you have it.
You have Metroid Prime 3, a First-Person Adventure.
And you have Halo 3, a First-Person Shooter.
Two different categories, which should never be grouped together to determine which is better, unless it's for Overall Game of the Year.
Hopefully this will bring some light on the confused people and finally stop the arguments. December 27 Directions to the Minus World!Well, it has been a long time since I updated this blog, and I figured I'd update it with a great piece of knowledge:
How to get to the Minus World on Super Mario Bros. for the NES.
Step 1. Go to Level 1-2.
Step 2. Power up into at least Super Mario. Fire Mario is recommended.
Step 3. Go to the end of Level 1-2, do not enter the pipe at the end, or travel to the Warp Zone area.
Step 4. Stand on top of the pipe.
Step 5. Break the 2nd and 3rd blocks from the left of the pipe. DO NOT break the first block.
Step 6. Face left, standing under where the 2nd block used to be.
Step 7. Crouch.
Step 8. Jump straight up, then at the top of the jump, press Right.
Step 9. If you timed it right, you should now be scrolling to the right, through the blocks and pipe.
Step 10. Slowly move to the right, so you see just the first warp pipe.*
Step 11. Go down that warp pipe.
Step 12. You will be transported to World -1.
Currently, I don't know if you can truly exit out of the Minus World.
Each time you go through the pipe at the end, you'll be transported back to the beginning. And the clock won't reset, either!
I've been having discussions with other people on the Nintendo Forums, and there is a rumor stating if you collect all the coins in the level, and navigate through the level correctly, that you'll advance onto the next level.
In the Japanese (Famicom) version of the game, there were actually 4 "minus world levels", 0-1, 0-2, 0-3, and 0-4, that also had a castle at the end. But supposedly, it didn't make it into the American (NES) version.
* To those who don't know, these are the warp pipes to levels 2, 3, and 4.
If you haven't figured it out already, I'm the proud owner of a Nintendo Wii, and I downloaded the original Super Mario Bros.
It truly is the original; no glitches have been removed, everything's there that allows you to make the speed run.
Enjoy! |
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