Gaming Forums => Nintendo Gaming => Topic started by: NWR_pap64 on December 17, 2008, 09:27:51 PM
Title: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 17, 2008, 09:27:51 PM
OK, so this year I missed the Wii's second anniversary, and the top five thread inspired me to take a shot at making a lenghty editorial. So being the narcissistic bastard that I am I decided to catch up and do a year in review article.
Bear with me. I'll be very blunt, point fingers at people, use big words and criticize fans in the worst way possible. So those that can't stomach any of these stop reading now...
...OK? OK, let's get this train wreck a rollin'!
Nintendo World Report Pictures presents...
A mess by pap64
Nintendo... The Wii... Nintendo World Report... IGN... Go Nintendo... Sega... Sakurai... Casual gamers...
In...
THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!!!!!
Right off the bat I'll say this...in comparison to the groundbreaking launch in 2006 and the fresh beginnings in 2007 Wii in 2008 felt somewhat empty. The best I can come up with is that 2008 was LOUD. The Wii made itself known in the biggest way possible, either by its own accords or the opinions of the media. Nintendo touted phenomenal sales throughout the year, non gaming medias jumped in joy at the sight of Wii Fit, Nintendo fanboys and hardcore gamers cursed aloud at the existence of Wii Music and loud cursing arrives for the first time in the form of Wii Speak. I told you, it was a loud year. Someone out there was speaking their minds regarding the Wii, and it was a roar that wouldn't be silenced.
But despite all of the noise 2008 proved to be yet another great year for the little system that could, with tons of consoles and software coming out of the door as fast as they came in. But, just what caused all the commotion in the first place?
Chapter 1: Of otaku assassins, exploding blocks and globs of paint One issue that keeps fans talking their mouths off is third party support. Simply put, some say its better than on the N64 and GC days. Others feel that the Wii can do MUCH better.
Regardless of which camp you fall into there's no denying than many third party titles have left an incredible mark on a console known for its astounding first party titles.
At the beginning of the year Suda 51 and Grasshopper manufacturer (creators of the cult and messy hit "Killer 7") in partnership with Ubisoft released the Wii exclusive "No More Heroes" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGtgqw3IsVI). The game was about a hardcore otaku named "Travis Touchdown" who sets out to become the number one assassin in all of Santa Destroy. This won't be an easy task as he will face some outrageous enemies, one that is more closer to his life than anyone expected.
The game quickly became a hit with gamers and the media alike. It had a sense of style and morbid humor that never died, no matter if you played the game for 30 hours straight. It was also praised for its excellent use of motion controls. In other words, it kept the waggle to a minimum but still felt fresh enough that you knew would never be done on another console.
The reception was so big that in the same year they announce a sequel called "No More Heroes; Desperate Struggle".
In late spring/early summer of 2008 EA unleashed the first of its many titles helmed by the legendary film director Steven Spielberg. From the minute that legendary image of him playing Wii Tennis with Miyamoto many expected Steven to dive into gaming sooner or later. Through a partnership with EA games this dream was made a reality.
I mean, Steven's the freaking man! He has made the idea of dinosaurs living in modern times a possibility, made us feel bad for the Jewish, made us believe that not all aliens come to Earth to anally rape us and created the greatest action hero ever (Indiana Jones).
So, you have all of this talent, all of this genius and all of these resources...and the best they could come up with was a game about falling blocks?
Yeah, the idea seemed surreal. Everyone expected Steven and EA to produce an epic game that would be equal or even better than some of the filmmaker's epic movies. So it came as a shock that his first game would be "Boom Blox" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpMkCF3AdMY)[/b], a multiplayer centric game in which you use the wii remote to move blocks around to hilarious and unexpected results.
The shock would eventually wear off as the final game hit store shelves. Needless to say it gathered many glowing reviews and warm acceptance from even the most cynical gamer. The game had a somewhat lukewarm single player, but multiplayer really brought out the best in gamers.
The best feature is the ability to create your own stages and games modes and send them to friends over Wiiconnect24. You can tweak the rules, the blocks and the conditions for victory.
Combine this with really fantasic wii controls and physics engine Boom Blox became a must for any Wii fan.
But like many third party games and quirky titles the game failed to attract a big fanbase right off the bat. It, however, keeps selling steadily and will cross the 500,000 copy mark anytime soon. Whether this is enough to warrant a sequel remains to be seen.
Last but not least comes "de Blob" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrQokHj7k0U), a brand new IP from THQ, known mainly for their cartoon license games. The idea behind this platformer is that a colorful city has been captured my monochrome villains and imprisoned all of its colorful citizens. You control a blob and your job is to literally paint the town red in hopes of color returning back to the city.
This was an unexpected surprise and one that turned out pretty damn good. It even garnered comparisons to Katamary Damacy! It was yet another fine example of how third party games could really work on the system.
While these were some of the most important third party releases of the year they certainly weren't the only ones.
Going into detail would drain me greatly, so stay tuned for part 2 in which I discuss the other third party releases that caused a lot of people to scream, shout, whine, cry and be happy, all at the same time.
TO BE CONTINUED
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: BeautifulShy on December 17, 2008, 09:36:09 PM
Pap I love reading your yearly overview of the Wii.I liked your 1st year overview as well.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Peachylala on December 17, 2008, 09:44:07 PM
Oh boy, I can't wait to see what you say about Sakurai.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 17, 2008, 09:53:14 PM
Oh boy, I can't wait to see what you say about Sakurai.
I think I might dedicate a Bible just for him... :O
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on December 17, 2008, 10:00:06 PM
So glad to have you back Papster. I can't wait to read your next part!
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: BeautifulShy on December 17, 2008, 10:09:34 PM
My favorite 3rd party games this year are No More Heroes, Okami, and TOS2.
No More Heroes I liked because of the crazy characters and conversations with them.The Boss fights are good. The game had a nice sense of humor.
Okami I liked because of the Japanese asthetic and the Bosses.
TOS2 was a great game and it tied up the Symphonia story nicely.Great Multiplayer as well.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on December 18, 2008, 12:55:40 AM
Well my favorite third party games this year are (excludes WiiWare):
1. Okami (Amazing game even if it is a port) 2. Boom Blox (A stellar and innovative title that shows what the Wiimote can do to change gameplay experiences) 3. Monopoly (A great version of one of my favorite board games) 4. Mushroom Men (A quirky title with a great sense of humor)
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: KDR_11k on December 18, 2008, 04:53:32 AM
Hm, so Boom Blox and NMH are worth getting? They are both kinda B-list to me (especially NMH, the reviews I read didn't sound like the game was that good).
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_insanolord on December 18, 2008, 05:40:55 AM
The first time I played Boom Blox I rented it because of all the hype and took it over to a friend's house and we ended up playing the multiplayer all night until the sun came up. I really should buy it at some point.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on December 18, 2008, 12:30:48 PM
Hm, so Boom Blox and NMH are worth getting? They are both kinda B-list to me (especially NMH, the reviews I read didn't sound like the game was that good).
Did you read these reviews to find out they simply said "meh, this game wasn't backed by a GTA-class budget, so all areas of the game suck", or did you actually try to find INFORMATION about game elements that would interest you?
I expected better from you, considering you've been here so long =]
I saw a few good reviews, and they topped out at 3/5 or 4/5. But they were good because they managed to provide useful information and help me generate some understanding of what was found to be enjoyable, versus "they messed up this part, so the overall "quailty" (such a strange word these days) of the game takes a hit"--was the messed up portion of the game really that important? hell naw.
It's not an action-adventure, it's a beat-em-up with some distractions (clear the stage, beat the boss, make money doing quirky activities, find you way to the next mission). The ambitions aren't that high, unlike what some people would like to believe, cuz it's really just a beat-em-up. But it uses the Wii interface like no other action game (it works), so the very basics of combat is simply satisfying. Even after acquiring new upgrades and techniques, it still "feels right."
Look at the Top 5 thread and note how quite a few people here mention this low-budget B-list game.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: BeautifulShy on December 19, 2008, 05:37:40 AM
The only thing I remember reading in reviews were the overworld wasn't really good.Most of the reviews compared it to GTA.Which really wasn't needed.Go look up the No More Heroes thread read through that and decide for yourself.:)
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 19, 2008, 11:23:27 AM
As promised here's part two!
Chapter 2: So you expect me to play as an anime Simon Belmont with faulty maraccas and PARTYING BABIEZ????
Third Party Support on Wii has been for many a love/hate affair. They love the fact that more and more developers are flocking to the Wii thanks to how many units it keeps selling. They hate, however, that they don't seem to be putting enough effort, or are generalizing the ENTIRE Wii fanbase as gamers who only like party games.
Square-Enix, a solid Wii supporter, started their releases with the release of "Dragonquest Swords" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82CrjDWY1m8), a spin off title first announced back in 2006 when the Wii was still in diapers. Its essentially a proof of concept game which tests if the Wiimote can work as a sword in a first person perspective. The game mixed traditional Dragonquest gameplay with an arcade like concept which had you battling monsters through a first person perspective, something mainly reserved for shooters.
It was a solid title which provided some dumb fun and an enjoyable, if cliched, storyline. But many felt that the concept was too first generation and needed polish. Worst, the game took nearly two years to arrive to US shores, making people either stop caring or feel annoyed that the idea wasn't polished enough.
This was followed up by "Chocobo's Dungeon" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEeQ2PbPBAA), a game in the mystery dungeon series featuring the ever so lovable Chocobo from the Final Fantasy series. This was yet another game which many feel Square just rushed out of the door. Square is known for maximizing the console's potential for graphics and sound. Yet, Chocobo's Dungeon felt somewhat lackluster. Even if the concept doesn't really warrant a flamboyant presentation many still felt they could have done better. Not to mention that dungeon explorers attract a very niche audience of hardcore gamers.
Capcom, yet another big Wii supporter, kept its support strong with perhaps their biggest release of the year "Okami" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG3FtX9cqo8). Okami was originally a Playstation 2 title developed by the team behind "Viewtiful Joe". It was praised for taking the basic Zelda concept and expanding it with lush paint like visuals and innovative gameplay. Sadly, the game was pretty much ignored by the big bulk of the gaming community.
So why were fans happy to hear that a Wii port was coming? Because from the minute the original game was released many felt that Okami was made with the Wii in mind. The celestial brush mechanics looked like it could have been done better on the Wii. So once Capcom confirmed that a port was in the works many got excited since they felt Okami would truly shine on the Wii.
The final game was, of course, widely praised, just as its original version did. But, many felt alienated by its controls, the extremist saying that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to port such game to the Wii.
As it is common with most Wii games many felt that they were taking the issues too far and could have been mastered in a matter of minutes. But despite these issues the game was stellar, and the updated graphics and widescreen support made it even better.
Sega kept chugging along as usual, though with few notable releases on the Wii this year. "Sonic Unleashed" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmkZpXZ0G8A), this year's multiconsole Sonic game, was met with extremely mixed reviews, despite the general consensus being that its the best 3D Sonic game in a while. The Wii version was developed by Dimps, the folks behind the excellent "Sonic Rush" titles for the Nintendo DS, though it lacked some of the features seen in the HD consoles, including more level.
Perhaps the most interesting Sega development was "Let's Tap" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c51Mv88LIOM), a game so quirky that would rival "Rub Rabbits" in sheer weirdness and fun. The concept behind Let's Tap is that you place the Wii remote on a solid surface, then you tap it in order to create movement in the game. This will be used for a racing mini game, a Donkey Konga-like music game and even some Jenga mechanics will be implemented. Sadly, no US release has been announced.
With the Wii being seen as some sort of "Dreamcast 2" Sega felt the opportunity to bring more classic franchises to the Wii. First they released "House of the Dead 2 and 3 Return" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd813Qmy0fM), a re-release of the classic Resident Evil inspired arcade shooters. Despite the absence of "House of the Dead 1" the budget title was a hit. Big enough to announce the release of "House of the Dead: Overkill" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKUD2sLE5rM), a follow up to the original game that is so drenched in cheese they might as well include tea and crackers with it. This is a good thing by the way...
Finally, there was Gearbox's take on "Samba de Amigo" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UrshQeJCF0), Sega's classic music rhythm game that utilized unique maraca controllers. The released promised to be very robust, polished and filled to the brim with songs, including downloadable song packs that keep the fiesta going. It was highly anticipated, but many doubted if the Wii remote would be good enough to mimic the technology used in the original arcade and Dreamcast release.
Just like "Okami" reviewers felt mixed about the controls. Some saw some issues, but many thought it was a disaster. Fans, however, noted that even the most accomplished player could get through the game just fine.
But the two biggest eyesores of the year were Konami and Ubisoft. Why? Yeah, they are the Wii's biggest supporters right now, so why did they became a bother in 2008?
Ubisoft has been supporting the Wii since its release in 2006. Even if their titles weren't perfect they were rock solid titles that managed to impress many. They went as far as to assure the media that they wouldn't re-release old content and would focus on more polished games on the Wii.
But at their Ubi Days conference they announced some games that enraged fans and made people wonder Ubi's integrity.
While they announced new entries in their "Prince of Persia" and "Beyond Good and Evil" franchise for the HD consoles, the Wii received "Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party", "Shaun White Snowboarding" and the cream of the crop "Petz Dogz" and..."Imagine Party Babiez".
These last two were the last straw for fans. From that moment on Ubisoft became a textbook example of how a third party can generalize the Wii audience with questionable titles. So much so that even analysts like the great Sean Malstrom saw this as the birdman effect taking place.
See, many third party developers see that the Wii is a hit with families, so they spend their budget on cheap and easy to create games that attracts a wide audience. Doing so, however, means that they are ignoring their fanbase as well as the need to create solid franchise games.
This was helped by the fact that they looked pretty bad.
But despite this, Shaun White and Rayman were solid hits, both which utilized the Wii balance board to its great strengths. And hell, even IGN like "Party Babiez!".
Konami has, for the most part, struggled with Wii support. They released the unique and beloved "Elebits" and "Dewy's Adventure", but nothing notable using their classic franchises, mainly Castlevania and Metal Gear.
They published "Target: Terror", easily one of the most laughable releases of the year.
But their biggest release yet is "Castlevania Judgment" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3FrT3QbQ_o). Yes, that's right, a Castlevania game on Wii, despite their original comments about how the classic whip gameplay wouldn't work on the Wii. But its not what you expect.
Judgment is a non canon free brawler featuring nearly the entire cast of Castlevania characters, including Simon Belmont, Maria Renard and of course, Dracula himself. The updated character designs were done by the artist behind the popular manga and anime series "Death Note" and they were unique to say the least.
Cutting to the chase, people hated it. Everyone was surprised by this because no one expected Konami to spin off the series after its 3D games bombed in the worst way possible on past consoles. Not to mention that it was going to be a waggle-tastic fighter, something that conflicted with the comments of the Wii not being good enough for Castlevania. Finally, the most hardcore fans felt offended by the update character designs, saying that they had raped the classic designs that made the characters so memorable in the first place.
To sum it all up, Judgment became the poster child of classic franchises gone wrong...
BUT, as the final game was release many warmed up to it, and discovered that the game wasn't half bad. Still there are some that wish this never existed in the first place, never mind the fact that this might be a solid title to look forward to.
What about the multiconsole releases of the year? Much to anyone's surprise many ended up performing better than their big HD counterparts. EA kept their support strong by releasing "All Play" versions of their now renowned sports franchise. "All Play" is an attempt to bring in a new audience to the complex world of sports and feature mini games and controls that hope to rope in gamers who feel alienated by the concept of big, sweaty men fighting over a football. These, however, received mixed reviews from the media. Some liked the idea, but others were too elitist to accept such experiments.
Activision saw big bucks once more with their "Guitar Hero" franchise, especially on Wii. "GH: Aerosmith" was both a mix critical and sales released, but "World Tour", aka "Guitar Hero 4" really brought the audiences in.
Finally, there was "Rock Band". Released in the summer of 2008 Rock Band was a fine example of developers being lazy with their Wii releases. It was essentially a port of the inferior PS2 version and lacked many of the original's inviting features, such as character creation and downloadable content. Despite this the game sold. But, EA promised to deliver Rock Band 2 Wii without any features being stripped in the name of quick development cycles.
So that's the entire third party scene of 2008 in a nutshell. I know there were even more releases, so forgive me if I missed some. While they are still some improvements waiting to be made the year was marked with some solid releases and three very spectacular games that proved that if heart, love and strength is put behind these games they can show the world that the Wii can be a great system for franchises you can't experience anywhere else.
But the one aspect of the Wii that REALLY took a beating from fans was its first party released. But that's another tale for another time...
TO BE CONTINUED...
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: ShyGuy on December 19, 2008, 11:42:53 AM
Excellent posts Pap, I think the new characters designs turned people off of Castlevania more than anything.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Kairon on December 19, 2008, 03:44:20 PM
Yay! I was about to come here to complain about the lack of a sequel to your glorious start but you delivered right on time!
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: decoyman on December 19, 2008, 04:34:46 PM
This is fun, Pap, keep it up! :D
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: BeautifulShy on December 19, 2008, 04:56:44 PM
Excellent posts Pap!
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: KDR_11k on December 20, 2008, 09:16:15 AM
Did you read these reviews to find out they simply said "meh, this game wasn't backed by a GTA-class budget, so all areas of the game suck", or did you actually try to find INFORMATION about game elements that would interest you?
The reviews about NMH said the game is a very mixed affair with the boss fights being fun but earning money not and from the sound of it you spend more time on earning money than actually fighting (so the game's mostly a chore but has its fun moments and earned pity points for that). Also at 60€ release price it was definitely too expensive and the later drop to 40€ still wasn't enough to convice me if it's really such a mixed affair, 40€ buys first party games at release. Now it's disappeared from the shelves and the used copies Gamestop has are 30€ (too much for a used game IMO).
Boom Blox just kinda fell off the table for me.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 20, 2008, 10:06:02 AM
I personally LOVED earning money for missions. Yes, sometimes they took a while but I just had fun exploring, finding money and shirts in random places and just messing around with Travis.
I recommend doing assassin missions since they are fun and net you a ton of money.
Thanks for the response, guys! I already have Chapter 3 all written up. I am checking for grammar errors and mistakes to make sure the read is good.
It is very long, though. But I just had to explain everything that happened this year.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on December 20, 2008, 01:56:18 PM
"and from the sound of it you spend more time on earning money than actually fighting" "I recommend doing assassin missions since they are fun and net you a ton of money."
Yeah, the assassination missions do earn the most money and they're entirely fighting. There's no story bosses for these side-missions, but that doesn't mean you're not exercising the core of the game: destroying enemies with the Wii Remote.
The wacky part-time jobs, in comparison, are like comedic diversions. You only have to complete these the very first time (just 2min of your time?) to unlock sets of assassination missions for the big money.
Fight to earn money, or fight to have fun, or do both.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: KDR_11k on December 20, 2008, 02:05:21 PM
Interesting, the review didn't even mention that you can make the money by fighting too.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on December 20, 2008, 02:14:20 PM
It's unfortunate when game reviews are too focused on expressing excitement (or disdain) versus delivering clear information. I guess information about how a game really works are considered spoilers =\
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Kairon on December 20, 2008, 02:50:31 PM
What reviews did you read exactly KDR? Please don't tell me it was an NWR review that spread such misinformation! T_T
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: KDR_11k on December 20, 2008, 03:14:03 PM
No idea, I think I did read more than one and it did include NWR.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: BeautifulShy on December 20, 2008, 04:45:02 PM
KDR I can't seem to find any review of No More Heroes on NWR.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Kairon on December 20, 2008, 05:32:58 PM
Cutting to the chase, people hated it. Everyone was surprised by this because no one expected Konami to spin off the series after its 3D games bombed in the worst way possible on past consoles.
A bit harsh. IGA's 3d entries are basically what happens when you literally take a 2D franchise into the 3rd dimension. The result is essentially what you'd expect: It's Castlevania gameplay in 3D. They're not bad games, but making the transition from 2D to 3D requires adopting a different philosophy to game design... unelss you're talking turn based RPGs in which the differences in design are more about aethetics than anything.
Quote
To sum it all up, Judgment became the poster child of classic franchises gone wrong...
I'd argue that Soulcalibur Legends was a far worse spin-off. Judgment could, at least, be characterized as not a total train wreck, whereas Legends was about as fun a stabbing myself in the thigh and twisting the knife.
I want to give 3rd parties a pass, kind of, because I bought/played a couple good ones this year and some really nice titles have finally been announced. Nintendo, on the other hand, seems to have taken a year off, blowing their load early. Super Smash Bros. was their biggest "core" game and even that was only released this year because it was delayed for some inexplicable reason (I like to blame the Subspace Emissary, but I digress). For 2009 (and beyond), we have Zelda, Mario, Punch-Out!!, Pikmin and Retro's mystery game on top of unannounced but expected affair such as Star Fox, F-Zero, and the inevitable return of Kid Icarus. The future looks bright, but it still doesn't make up for the fact that 2008 was just an okay year.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 20, 2008, 07:13:27 PM
Cutting to the chase, people hated it. Everyone was surprised by this because no one expected Konami to spin off the series after its 3D games bombed in the worst way possible on past consoles.
A bit harsh. IGA's 3d entries are basically what happens when you literally take a 2D franchise into the 3rd dimension. The result is essentially what you'd expect: It's Castlevania gameplay in 3D. They're not bad games, but making the transition from 2D to 3D requires adopting a different philosophy to game design... unelss you're talking turn based RPGs in which the differences in design are more about aethetics than anything.
Quote
To sum it all up, Judgment became the poster child of classic franchises gone wrong...
I'd argue that Soulcalibur Legends was a far worse spin-off. Judgment could, at least, be characterized as not a total train wreck, whereas Legends was about as fun a stabbing myself in the thigh and twisting the knife.
I want to give 3rd parties a pass, kind of, because I bought/played a couple good ones this year and some really nice titles have finally been announced. Nintendo, on the other hand, seems to have taken a year off, blowing their load early. Super Smash Bros. was their biggest "core" game and even that was only released this year because it was delayed for some inexplicable reason (I like to blame the Subspace Emissary, but I digress). For 2009 (and beyond), we have Zelda, Mario, Punch-Out!!, Pikmin and Retro's mystery game on top of unannounced but expected affair such as Star Fox, F-Zero, and the inevitable return of Kid Icarus. The future looks bright, but it still doesn't make up for the fact that 2008 was just an okay year.
Mind you, some of the comments were based on gamer's reactions to the new. IE they might sound harsher than what they really are. The 3D Castlevania issue was something that was brought up the minute "Judgment" was announced, especially since Konami was hesitant to bring 3D Castlevania to the Wii.
For the record, I am very interested in playing Judgment so I don't have a beef with it. Again, if I sound harsh its because I am trying to sum up initial reactions in order to get give you an idea of the impact the event has left in gaming.
As for first party support...wait till you read Chapter 3...ITS A DOOZY!
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 20, 2008, 09:57:26 PM
As promised, here's Chapter 3!
Chapter 3: How can I say “epic failure” if I can’t fail?
Even with rock solid third party support ask any diehard Nintendo fan and he will tell you that the heart and soul of a Nintendo console lies within its first party games. Simply put, no other company has first party games that are as beloved as Nintendo’s. In just a few years the Wii has received some amazing and even incredible entries in its franchises.
2006 saw “Twilight Princess” slap the Wii’s butt into birth while “Wii Sports” made the system a must own for everyone, and 2007 saw the holy trinity being completed with the epic releases of “Metroid Prime 3” and “Super Mario Galaxy”. So with 2007 ending on such a fantastic note 2008 promises to be better, right? Right?
If you ask fans what they thought of the Wii in 2008 they would say that it was a terrible year, that Nintendo doesn’t care anymore, that it lacked the innovation of previous year and that everything was better on the 360 and PS3. Was the Wii really that bad in 2008? In my honest opinion, no. It saw some great releases that pushed the Wii even further into superstardom, despite the stock market saying otherwise. Let’s look at some of them now…
“Endless Ocean” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpHQinpnum4) kick started the year with a fascinating look at ocean life through the perspective of a videogame. It had no goal whatsoever except explore the deep blue seas in search of exotic marine life. It wasn’t a killer app, but did get a small following that found its concept a relaxing one from all the shooting and killing seen nowadays in games.
But things really started once March rolled around.
Easily the biggest blockbuster of the year, “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz9AQtFsIQs) was finally released after nearly two years worth of hype, speculation and hoping. It was originally set to be released in February, but was pushed back a month in order to fix some bugs. But a month flies quick and before we knew it Brawl was a reality.
It boasted its biggest cast of characters yet, an expanded story mode and, the biggest one of all, online play. Out of the three only two didn’t deliver as well as everyone hoped.
The adventure mode, called “The Subspace Emmisary” promised to be an epic story filled with enough fanservice to last decades, the first time all of Nintendo’s heroes, sidekicks and villains would team up to defeat a bigger threat. It used the game’s own engine to deliver platforming similar to the Kirby games (not surprising since the game’s director, Masahiro Sakurai, created both games).
The problem was that the stages proved to be very boring and generic. Rather than using the worlds Nintendo has created over the years they opted for some bland settings and enemies that lacked uniformity. The story was no better either. It was a confusing mess that looked pretty but wasn’t as exciting as people hoped it would be. Finally, the Smash engine simply doesn’t work for platforming. Overall, a decent attempt at creating a Nintendo all stars adventure game but needed better direction.
Then there is the online mode. When this was confirmed a year before it’s release its creator apologized in advance since there was the chance of lag ruining online gameplay, especially if you were brawling with other players from other parts of the globe. Even with the warning no expected the issues the final game had.
Players experienced severe lag issues for weeks after launch. Even if Nintendo promised to somehow correct this and even players created better online set ups to this day players are still experiencing lag and connection issues, a blemish to an otherwise fantastic game.
Yes, Brawl still manages to be a fantastic game despite its obvious issues. While the cast of characters lacked a third third party character (sorry Megaman) and other Nintendo franchises should have been explored the final game proved to be more solid and polished than its previous incarnation “Super Smash Bros. Melee”. Even the clone characters received far more attention this time around, making them unique enough to be worth trying out.
Not to mention it’s the most robust Nintendo release yet, thanks to a soundtrack that spawns over 300 songs that summarizes Nintendo’s 100 years in the business, over hundreds of trophies and stickers to collect and plenty of modes to sink your teeth into.
You would think that with gamers pretty much settled with Brawl Nintendo would stop its big releases and let players catch a breather, but things weren’t finished yet.
Just a month after the blockbuster release of Brawl Nintendo released its sixth entry in its epic Mario Kart franchise “Mario Kart Wii”. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWf9oKzE-Zg)
Announced at the E3 2007 conference Mario Kart Wii promised to deliver an experience that was both new and familiar to anyone that loved being hit by a blue shell. Its biggest additions included a 12 player online mode, motorbikes and the infamous Wii Wheel accessory, created to further immense the player with motion controls.
Prior to release fans began to worry about this mega release. Every time some news leaked fans would get their shorts in a knot. The one thing that really made players upset was the multiplayer. Anyone that loves Mario Kart will tell you that even if the racing is rock solid the fun truly lies in its multiplayer modes, including racing and battle modes. While racing stayed pretty much intact battling received the biggest overhaul. It is now a team affair where players are matched to teams, and the goal is to destroy the players in the other team in order to assure victory.
This made fans upset because they felt they were butchering a classic element of the game in order to allow casual players and non gamers into the mix. So much, in fact, that fans started calling “Double Dash”, the previous whipping boy of the franchise, the best Mario Kart ever! So, was all of this anger justified or were gamers were once again blowing their top over nothing?
Regardless of what you may think of the offline multiplayer mode, online was really amazing. Its one of the few Nintendo releases which manages to nearly rival the versatility of XBOX Live. Nintendo even created a dedicated Mario Kart Wii channel so you could keep track of other players, send invites that made friend codes easier to handle and monthly tournaments that are still running to this day. Best of all, it provided a very smooth and clean experience with hardly any lag issues.
Outside of this, Mario Kart Wii featured its most robust set of contents yet. It features the biggest cast of characters yet, including fan favorites Rosalina from “Galaxy” and Dry Bowser from “New Super Mario Bros.”. The stages managed to outdo anything released in prior games thanks to its never ending creativity and characters and overall, it’s a kick ass game.
So we got Brawl in March, and Mario Kart Wii in April. What else could we ask for? Maybe something a little oceany?
Right after making core gamers happy for two straight months Nintendo went back to experiment with the casual audience.
At E3 2007 Nintendo demoed its biggest blue ocean release yet; Wii Fit. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oNVIcMnZh4)
It was big for many reasons, one being that it was a game that inspired people to get up and be fit using everything from daily yoga exercises to fun mini games using the now legendary Wii balance board, a device that detects the balance and movement of the player standing on it. This was used to determine the player’s weight and how good their balance was. Based on this the game programmed a daily routine that promised to get you fit and neat by the end of the year.
Nintendo banked big on this one. Once again, it was their biggest blue ocean release yet. Nintendo hoped that everyone from gamers to senior citizens would invest on a 90 dollar game, an occurrence common within the gamer community (with games like Rock Band), but unheard of in the casual gaming market. Nintendo also hoped to build a fanbase big enough to base more games around the Wii balance board (more on that later). With this, Nintendo hit everything from local news shows to daytime talk shows. You could hardly walk and NOT see an ad for Wii Fit. So, did this gamble pay off? The answer is a big, fat YES.
Of all the blue ocean titles released on the Wii so far Wii Fit might be their biggest one yet. It’s almost just as hard to find as the Wii console itself and despite an economic recession its 90 dollar price tag didn’t keep people away. And there’s a good reason for that.
It’s not perfect, especially with its BMI measuring system not working as well as it should. But Wii Fit is a compelling game that truly does inspire to get up and play with its clean graphics, calm trainers and loads of activities. Even the most cynical gamer couldn’t help but fall in love with it, even if they were contributing to “the death of gaming as we know it”.
So, like God after creating the universe, Nintendo decided to rest for the rest of the summer and let people go to the movies and have some lemonade. But there’s no rest for the wicked as the saying goes.
In August of 2008 Nintendo released its first Mario sports title since 2007’s “Mario Strikers Charged” and “Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games”, “Mario Supper Sluggers” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbksKH7vWs8), a sequel to the very late Gamecube release “Mario Superstar Baseball”.
Now, this release caused a surprising amount of commotion around gamers. Why? Isn’t this essentially a filler release meant to be fun and be enjoyed by anyone? The reason why gamers whipped this bad boy up was because it was essentially a Madden type release. IE, very little innovation over its predecessor.
The game did provide some motion controls, but weren’t 1:1. This was the main area that really got fans steamed up. Wii Sports’s baseball sported (no pun intended) some slight 1:1 motion controls. People expected developers to go up from there. Mario Super Sluggers basically sports a very basic version of this.
But even with this obvious flaw did the game really deserve such harsh reactions and comments? No. Yes, the game didn’t evolve much from the first game, but if you take it as a fun baseball game you won’t even care if its brand spanking new or not. It offered a great cast of characters, mini games that actually trained you to do battle at the baseball diamond and a really fun single player mode where you gather a big collection of players in hopes of dethroning Bowser as the king of baseball.
In September Nintendo released a game no one really expected… Wario Land Shake it! (http://www.youtube.com/experiencewii)
Fans know that Wario originally started as Mario’s rival in the Gameboy exclusive “Mario Land” series. Wario proved unique enough that Nintendo decided to send this fat bizarro Mario into his own series of adventures, clearly different from anything Nintendo had offered with its plumber star. The Wario Land series never got big, but did gained a loyal audience that fell in love with greed and became OCDs thanks to Wario.
But after turning Wario into a game developer for “Wario Ware Inc.”, creating the first case of dual personality in a Nintendo character, Nintendo didn’t do much with Wario the treasure hunter. They released a DS game called “Master of Disguise”, but was extremely laughable in its execution.
So when “Wario Land Shake it!” was first announced everyone was just surprised. It was Wario return to form in a 2D game featuring hand drawn animated graphics and quirky controls that combined tradition with Wii-ness. It even marked the return of Captain Syrup, Wario’s old nemesis from the Gameboy days!
“Shake it!” was, simply put, classic. It wasn’t the most challenging game ever but it did offered a lot to those that were curious enough to dive in. Each stage had a set of missions, from “finding the golden enemy” to “collect X amount of coins”. On top of this there was secret treasure and maps to collect; warranting those with an obsession to fully complete a game would not put the game down for a while.
Now, October is where things started to get grim for fans…and not because it was Halloween.
In October Nintendo released what is perhaps their most controversial game ever. Not controversial because of violence, graphic content or unconventional topics. Ladies and gentlemen, the most shocking Wii game of the year…
*Babies cry, women scream, masses of people storm out of cities, canyons explode, chickens explode, blood is everywhere and ALL HOPE IS LOST!!!
*AHEM…
So, why is a seemingly innocent game so dreaded? I know you are probably tired from all this reading, but you never know if you might participate in a contest or something, so listen up…
Wii Music started its life as the first Wii game ever presented to the American audience at the E3 2006 convention. It is remembered because Shigeru Miyamoto, the game’s own creator, came out on stage wearing a tuxedo and conducting an orchestra of Miis playing “The Legend of Zelda” theme. This conducting tech demo was originally going to be part of “Wii Play” a collection of mini games which includes a free Wii remote. But they felt the concept had enough merit to turn into a full fledged game, and thus the game delved into obscurity for nearly two years…
During that time, the game evolved from a mini game collection into a bonafide music game.
E3 2008 rolls around and Nintendo officially declares it as the first time we would ever see Wii Music in its finished form. And it terrified the masses in the most barbaric way possible…
OK, cutting the theatrics, the reason Wii Music became the most hated thing in gaming since the birth of Jack Thompson is because Nintendo demoed it in the worst way possible. There was too much fake enthusiasm and was presented as a painfully simple game that even handicapped babies would play. It didn’t follow the rules established in classic music games. You couldn’t fail a song. There was no goal, no logic and no sense. When the show was over bloggers from all over the world fired up their accounts and officially declared war on Wii Music. Gamers HAD to take a stand and prevent games like Wii Music from ever entering the market. It was perhaps the darkest moment for a Nintendo fan ever. Not even the first unveiling of “Wind Waker” managed to create controversy as big as this one!
So, after E3 ended Nintendo noticed the clear angst amongst its fanbase and realized that their presentation really did suck. From then on, Nintendo cut all the “easy” crap and decided to present Wii Music as a game that anyone can enjoy, but offered enough depth to keep even the most demanding gamer at bay.
Nintendo started its promotions by showing many of the game’s 60 instruments and how they are played using the Wii remote and nunchuck. Then it had its main creator Shigeru Miyamoto offer insights on the making of the game, from its conception to final release and even alienated reactions.
This proved that Wii Music was born out of the need to make music simple enough to inspire people to pick up a real instrument, especially young children. It was a very romantic and idealistic approach that convinced many that Wii Music isn’t as bad as it seems.
But what really sold the game was JC Rodrigo’s presentation at a Google show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOx3G2AAFUI). Cutting the cheesy enthusiasm and getting down to business JC showed one aspect of the game no one, not even Nintendo, ever realized; the option of remixing tunes to your liking. This quick presentation proved that Wii Music had potential. It’s simple and easy to learn mechanics allowed would me musicians to pick any instrument and remix a song however THEY saw it fit. In other words, if you wanted to make an NES version of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” you could do it. If you wanted to do a rock remix of the Animal Crossing theme, you could do it too. The only limitation was your own imagination.
But despite a more calm presentation, better insight and more support from Nintendo fans STILL refused to accept the fact that Wii Music exists. So much so that certain gaming websites declared this the worst Nintendo game ever and even used it to prove that Nintendo didn’t care anymore. Was all of this true? Well…no.
Wii Music is a surprisingly good title that will provide hours of fun to those that decide to see it for what it is; an alternative to the many music games crowding the market. It’s a niche title; mind you, one that needs improvement if they are planning a sequel, but one worth experience for yourself.
The reaction to Wii Music spawned a much debated topic about how Nintendo fans are reaction to Nintendo’s new direction. But that’s something I’ll talk about later…
And to end the year of angst, Nintendo released “Animal Crossing: City Folk” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXRaLIsj7e8). Animal Crossing Wii was a highly anticipated title, simply because Nintendo used it as an example of how the Wii’s online capabilities would allow for fun and compelling online play. Not to mention that since Animal Crossing: Wild World was such a big improvement over the original Animal Crossing the series can only go up.
At the same E3 of doom in which Wii Music was born at, Nintendo first debuted City Folk much to everyone’s dismay. It looked EXACTLY like Wild World! No improvement was seen whatsoever! The only new additions were a City which housed many old features and online voice chat! Wait…did I say voice chat?
Yep. One big improvement this new version of Animal Crossing brought was online chat through Wii Speak, a microphone that sits on top of your TV without the need to use headsets, creating an experience everyone can participate in.
But enough about that. City Folk killed any hope that it would be a massive step up from the DS version. Fans could hardly get excited for it. And the fact that there were no other titles to end the year hurt fans even more!
All of this, however, would be short lived as the game neared release. Simply put, Animal Crossing is too much of a charming game to stay mad at. The formula just works, even if it hardly ever evolves from time to time. Experienced players would discover, however, that the game had more new features than anyone though. And Wii Speak really added to the experience. So despite the angst everyone just when furry for Animal Crossing, even with no updates and all.
Now, there were two titles released in 2008 that got a lot of fans talking…even if their chances of being released in the US are zilch.
The first is “Captain Rainbow” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHTUnPf55mM), a game by the creators of the ever so charming “Chibi-Robo”. It tells the story of a nerdy character named Nick who is, in fact, a technicolor superhero called “Captain Rainbow”. At the height of his popularity Nick discovers that there are better, cooler heroes and that his popularity would soon disappear. Knowing this he sets out towards a magical island which is said to grant wishes to anyone that sets foot on its sands.
Now, the story is already quirky enough, but wait till you see what happens next!
When Nick arrives at the island he discovers that he is NOT the only one there hoping to get a wish. He discovers none other than various Nintendo stars! Well, more like characters from Nintendo’s B, C and D list, but are stars nonetheless. There are all there hoping to become stars once more, a very clever jab towards Nintendo’s reluctance to update some of their older franchises. Some include Birdo from Mario, Crazy Tracy from Zelda and a very, very fat Little Mac from Punch-Out.
Your goal now is to help these characters wish upon a star and make their dreams come true.
This concept had many fans excited as it sounded like a Nintendo fanservice game that anyone could enjoy, and Chibi-Robo proved that the folks at Skips can really make a great game, even if it looks like crap.
When the game was released in Japan fans quickly imported a copy to see what it was all about, only to discover that the game was racier than anyone expected it to be. It started with a scene in which Birdo is confused for a male character as she comes out of the bathroom, and you as Captain Rainbow had to discover evidence that he was really a she. As you explore Birdo’s house you discovered something that vibrates and was censored…Hmm…
Then there’s a questionable scene between Takamaru and Tracy…
The slightly perverted sense of humor coupled with the quirky gameplay and obscure characters pretty much guaranteed that this rainbow would stay put in Japan. For a while, there were rumors that there would be at least a European release but nothing has come out of it.
The other game that created a lot of attention was “Disaster: Day of crisis” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6UR3UVB4U8). It was a game so controversial that it nearly rivaled Wii Music in terms of sheer fan angst.
Disaster was one of the touted new IPs that Nintendo proudly showed off at the Wii’s E3 premiere. But this dream would quickly be shattered as “Project HAMMER”, another new IP, was quickly cancelled and Disaster was no where to be seen. Through 2007 we kept hearing reports that the game was quickly canned when it didn’t meet Nintendo’s demands. But then they announced that they acquired Monolith Software, the company behind Disaster and the very popular Xenosaga series. So if Disaster was really, well, a disaster, why would Nintendo go their way to acquire the company?
During early 2008, however, we finally hear word of Disaster, complete with a summer 2008 release date, brand new footage and gameplay information. Disaster, like the infamous GLADOS, was still alive. But it quickly went back into obscurity as the game was delayed, not to be heard from again. This once again fueled the rumors that the game was going to get canceled. But by mid fall 2008 the game resurfaced once again and finally saw released in Japan and Europe. With this a reality American fans became happy that a potential new IP would be released soon…until Reggie Fils Aime quickly destroyed those dreams. This is where the controversy comes in.
When asked if Nintendo was planning an US released Reggie mentioned that Nintendo was taking a “wait and see” approach with Disaster and were waiting to see how it performed in Europe. If it bombed then say good bye to a solid game. Time and time again, Reggie kept affirming that the game simply wasn’t worth Nintendo’s time; going as far as to say that Nintendo felt the game wasn’t good enough to warrant a 50 dollar price tag.
Why? Was Nintendo upset at Monolith for creating a game that was only decent? Was there some unheard turmoil within the walls at Nintendo? Or, was Reggie not a fan of the game to begin with? All of these moments made fans upset because, quite honestly, made Nintendo look arrogant, especially since in the past they would support titles like this. Not to mention that Disaster was already dubbed in English and featured a concept that would likely do better in the States than in any other part of the world. So Nintendo’s reluctance to release Disaster in the US remains one of the biggest mysteries of 2008.
But there is some hope, although in the form of rumors. One fan e-mailed a Nintendo representative regarding the release of Disaster in the US. The representative proudly responded that it would indeed see release in the US and would be very soon.
Could this person be true? Does this annihilate any of the comments made by Reggie about the game? Only time will tell…
*Gasp…gasp…
HOLY CRAP WHAT A BUSY YEAR!
Nintendo truly rocked things in 2008, whether through the release of blockbuster titles or further pissing their fans off in ways no one expected. Was this a bad year for releases as fans say it is? Not really. Controversial? Yes. But bad? No. In my honest opinion this is a product of a fanbase that feels alienated by how Nintendo is running things now. Yes, this year lacked the freshness and innovation seen in prior years, making it look pretty unspectacular. But still it delivered a lot of games that are worth playing and, once again, provide the fun only Nintendo can do.
And I haven’t even mentioned the games you download to your console!
TO BE CONTINUED
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: KDR_11k on December 21, 2008, 03:23:53 AM
This reached tl;dr for me...
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Urkel on December 21, 2008, 04:22:21 AM
Seriously Pap, who do you think you are? Malstrom?
I solved this problem by ignoring pap and malstrom. No offense to either of them though :D
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 21, 2008, 06:28:01 AM
See I knew you guys would have complained about lenght, that's why I divided this into chapters so everyone could read it. But the first party chapter proved too long to be summed up. Too many releases, and I didn't want to miss any of them.
But if you guys want the short version...
Nintendo released some games. Some were good, some were bad, they all sold and people complained. Gaming is doom.
End of chapter three.
Short enough for ya?
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on December 21, 2008, 07:34:08 PM
Seriously Pap, who do you think you are? Malstrom?
Great job guys. Someone is obviously putting alot of work into this and you criticize it? Grow up, either read it or ignore. I realize sometimes reading more than two lines will scramble your brain. I feel like I'm at Gamefaqs. So congratulations some of you managed to be right up there with the stellar group of people hanging out at Gfaqs!
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Kairon on December 21, 2008, 07:59:32 PM
Well, the wall of text can be scary. I'm actually reading it in little bits and pieces slowly right now.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Adrock on December 21, 2008, 08:58:55 PM
I wouldn't call Nintendo's 2008 lineup epic failure. The DS launch was epic failure. The best Nintendo could do was a port of Super Mario 64. That's plain laziness. I guess I'd be more forgiving if any of Nintendo's releases wowed me. Brawl was packed with things and stuff, but what I really wanted was a better game, namely gameplay that was more than just Melee's with scotch tape and glitter.
Mario Kart was better than both Super Circuit and Double Dash, but worse than MKDS. What the hell?
I wish Nintendo would have had the balls to release Captain Rainbow here though the game did fail in Japan. Maybe the game would have had a better chance if Captain Rainbow got some exposure in Brawl. Oh well, at least we got another clone of Fox........
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 21, 2008, 10:24:19 PM
Seriously Pap, who do you think you are? Malstrom?
Great job guys. Someone is obviously putting alot of work into this and you criticize it? Grow up, either read it or ignore. I realize sometimes reading more than two lines will scramble your brain. I feel like I'm at Gamefaqs. So congratulations some of you managed to be right up there with the stellar group of people hanging out at Gfaqs!
To be honest, at first I was a tad annoyed, but got over it pretty quick.
The reason I wrote a chapter this lenghty was because I wanted to be as in-depth as possible and avoid making the same mistakes other websites have done with their retrospective lists.
They tend to focus on Wii Fit and Wii Music, constantly mentioning the growth of casual gaming and keep forgetting that other noteworthy games were released this year. I've yet to see a site mention the surprise announcement and release of Wario Land Shake It. No one even mentioned the perverted humor of Captain Rainbow or even the controversy Reggie's thoughts on "Disaster" caused in the media.
Adrock: The reason I named this chapter like that is because I was making fun of Wii Music's "no one can fail" mantra.
I have to agree that when it comes to releases 2008 was pretty uneventful. It wasn't horrible as fans lead you to believe but it did lack some of the fresh titles 2006 and 2007 offered. I think this applies to all consoles, though. Sony's Little Big Planet didn't do as well as expected and all the 360 offered were big hyped sequels.
2009, however, looks to offer a little more innovation.
And I personally think the online mode in MK Wii is leagues above MK DS. Its enough to make it the best MK in my book. The single player, however, was unfair.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on December 22, 2008, 01:45:14 AM
Good summaries.
Now if you were tackle everything we bitched at inside NWR, that would be incredible.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Kairon on December 22, 2008, 02:07:03 AM
You know what.... Mario Kart Wii did something that amazes me. I've NEVER enjoyed just racing in MK multiplayer games. Blah.
I enjoy it in MKWii when I'm on a team with my human friends. It's great. I'm happy. We cheer each other on, and we back each other up. It's amazing. I don't miss battlemode at all. It's exciting enough to try to protect my dad from enemy attacks.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on December 22, 2008, 02:08:12 AM
You know what.... Mario Kart Wii did something that amazes me. I've NEVER enjoyed just racing in MK multiplayer games. Blah.
I enjoy it in MKWii when I'm on a team with my human friends. It's great. I'm happy. We cheer each other on, and we back each other up. It's amazing. I don't miss battlemode at all. It's exciting enough to try to protect my dad from enemy attacks.
Kairon fail for not missing battle mode. That is the mode that always drew me into the MK series and they messed it up in MK: Wii with their lame team battlemode.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Kairon on December 22, 2008, 02:11:19 AM
Kairon fail for not missing battle mode. That is the mode that always drew me into the MK series and they messed it up in MK: Wii with their lame team battlemode.
Screw battlemode. Four-person multiplayer co-op sorta-Grand Prix is awesome. I can play with like, my little cousins, and keep them safe. I don't want to fight anymore, I just want to protect people.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on December 22, 2008, 02:14:37 AM
Kairon fail for not missing battle mode. That is the mode that always drew me into the MK series and they messed it up in MK: Wii with their lame team battlemode.
Screw battlemode. Four-person multiplayer co-op sorta-Grand Prix is awesome. I can play with like, my little cousins, and keep them safe. I don't want to fight anymore, I just want to protect people.
Lol.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on December 22, 2008, 02:48:24 AM
Team REGGIE Worldwide Grand Prix Onrine has pretty much surpassed any 4-player kart battling combined.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: KDR_11k on December 22, 2008, 03:09:51 AM
Seriously Pap, who do you think you are? Malstrom?
Great job guys. Someone is obviously putting alot of work into this and you criticize it? Grow up, either read it or ignore. I realize sometimes reading more than two lines will scramble your brain. I feel like I'm at Gamefaqs. So congratulations some of you managed to be right up there with the stellar group of people hanging out at Gfaqs!
I did ignore it, I just told him I did and why so he knows about it rather than wondering why noone talks about the content of his article.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 22, 2008, 08:46:11 AM
Now if you were tackle everything we bitched at inside NWR, that would be incredible.
Dude, if I tackled that I would never be finished!
For me, what really sold Mario Kart Wii was the online mode. Simply put its the best online Nintendo game yet. Its amazing how you can easily join a game with up to 12 players, you can connect to ANYONE in the world, you can easily add friends to your list and, most importantly, NO LAG! Not to mention the ghosts and downloadable tournaments. Oh and worldwide rankings.
Combine this with the insane cast of characters, amazing tracks and great selection of karts and bikes and you have one incredible game.
Single player, however, sucks. The AI is way too unfair. The worst part is that you need to play through it in order to unlock the best karts and characters.
But still, anyone that denies the monster that is MK Wii must be working for IGN...
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on December 22, 2008, 12:21:09 PM
"most importantly, NO LAG!"
Well, there's no framerate lag as in the case with Brawl, but there's definitely some questionable moments of ghost drivers who appear to wipe-out or drive off the stage, to suddenly reappear ahead a second later.
In singles play, you could say there's a difficulty step that has to be breached. With an optimum character/vehicle combination and superb driving, the AI will be too far back to keep you down, even with Blue Shells launched at you. Or you could do what I did and place my faith in the NOA REGGIE Mii I created.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 22, 2008, 01:33:36 PM
Well, there's no framerate lag as in the case with Brawl, but there's definitely some questionable moments of ghost drivers who appear to wipe-out or drive off the stage, to suddenly reappear ahead a second later.
In singles play, you could say there's a difficulty step that has to be breached. With an optimum character/vehicle combination and superb driving, the AI will be too far back to keep you down, even with Blue Shells launched at you. Or you could do what I did and place my faith in the NOA REGGIE Mii I created.
True, I have noticed these instance of players appearing then disappearing. But still, its nothing that completely destroys the game like what happened with Brawl. Maybe its just me, though.
As for the single player, yeah, I did notice that some vehicles work better than others.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: DAaaMan64 on December 22, 2008, 01:49:12 PM
You know what.... Mario Kart Wii did something that amazes me. I've NEVER enjoyed just racing in MK multiplayer games. Blah.
I enjoy it in MKWii when I'm on a team with my human friends. It's great. I'm happy. We cheer each other on, and we back each other up. It's amazing. I don't miss battlemode at all. It's exciting enough to try to protect my dad from enemy attacks.
Kairon fail for not missing battle mode. That is the mode that always drew me into the MK series and they messed it up in MK: Wii with their lame team battlemode.
Battle mode has been total ass since the 64 game.
If they had had battlemode more like the N64 game, and a less annoying rainbow road level, this would be the greatest in the series. (If it isn't already... IDK)
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Kairon on December 22, 2008, 01:58:30 PM
Yeah, the first one is easily the best game in the series, followed closely by Kart 64.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: UltimatePartyBear on December 22, 2008, 04:11:29 PM
Mario Kart DS had a good battle mode. It had its flaws, such as nerfed red shells and too-open levels, but it was a triumphant return after DD. The Wii game snubs battle mode so hard I haven't been able to forgive Nintendo for it, and I have yet to put serious time into the game. I've played maybe an hour and a half total, all multiplayer, all hated. :(
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on December 22, 2008, 04:33:50 PM
The Mario Kart series didn't get it's groove until Mario Kart 64.
And was the Wii Wheel bad? Considering I can pull off mini-turbos and turns no problem, it mustn't be. It's not for everyone though.
luvluvluv the Wii Wheel. I refuse to play MK any other way now.
God I love it too. Just something about it... Just the way it feels. To bad I couldn't get any of my friends into it -_-
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on December 22, 2008, 05:23:53 PM
Who Dares Wins.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 22, 2008, 05:38:45 PM
Actually, my gaming setup is in a position so awkward that I can't play with the Wii Wheel.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: KDR_11k on December 22, 2008, 05:42:33 PM
Any MK after the first seemed to turn more into an itemfest than a racing game. Also a good hit with a red shell took a good opportunity in SMK, in e.g. MKDD you can just fire one and expect it to hit stuff even if you had no line of sight.
Maybe people were more accepting of arcadeyness in the SNES era but I recall having many more interesting games of SMK than any later MK.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Stogi on December 22, 2008, 05:54:31 PM
Holy ****! That's it. That's what's wrong with the new MK. It's not the items persay, it's that you HAVE to get them every time if you expect to win.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on December 22, 2008, 06:11:15 PM
Umm, NO....
Good drivers at the front of the pack don't even get the good items (you seen them before, jerks who are always on the Mach bike or other unimaginative high-speed-low-weight-character combination). They win cuz they're, for the most part, GOOD DRIVERS. The items they end up with typically serve as a thin layer of defense; the first layer of defense is good driving.
And the Wheel ensures that driving comes first and is the emphasis of your input, cuz driving is fun. (when you're no fun and just care about winning, use an analog stick).
Anal-log control in Mario Kart Wii simply feels awkward and wrong now.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: UltimatePartyBear on December 22, 2008, 06:34:33 PM
Other than the imbalanced super items of Double Dash, the items aren't the problem with later Mario Kart games. They still reward good racing above all else, though it is definitely true that items are more common in the later games (in SMK, there is a single cluster of item boxes on each track, and they are not refreshed during the race). Even so, there is something about the first one that none of the sequels have retained, but I haven't figured out exactly what it is yet. I have a theory, though.
When you used an item in SMK, you knew exactly where it was going to go. That certainty disappeared in later games. I could feel the difference. Maybe it has something to do with analog controls. Maybe it's because the camera got floatier. Maybe it's because the item launched from its location behind or orbiting your kart, which was highly variable (I suspect this one, personally, but I can't prove anything). Whatever the reason, starting with MK64, aiming with the items became much less precise, especially green shells, which are the ultimate skill item in SMK.
I think the imprecision of the items is the source of the randomness, not the items themselves.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: King of Twitch on December 22, 2008, 07:00:07 PM
Wide open levels made the green shells and bananas useless add in the lack of feather, no coin system, and you're left with a sad shell of its former self
lol shell
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Peachylala on December 22, 2008, 10:58:31 PM
I found the feather useless and the coin system to be cheap.
Sorry, but every Mario Kart game after SMK is better then its origins.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on December 22, 2008, 11:18:30 PM
Other than the imbalanced super items of Double Dash, the items aren't the problem with later Mario Kart games. They still reward good racing above all else, though it is definitely true that items are more common in the later games (in SMK, there is a single cluster of item boxes on each track, and they are not refreshed during the race). Even so, there is something about the first one that none of the sequels have retained, but I haven't figured out exactly what it is yet. I have a theory, though.
When you used an item in SMK, you knew exactly where it was going to go. That certainty disappeared in later games. I could feel the difference. Maybe it has something to do with analog controls. Maybe it's because the camera got floatier. Maybe it's because the item launched from its location behind or orbiting your kart, which was highly variable (I suspect this one, personally, but I can't prove anything). Whatever the reason, starting with MK64, aiming with the items became much less precise, especially green shells, which are the ultimate skill item in SMK.
I think the imprecision of the items is the source of the randomness, not the items themselves.
I found that I could be very precise with aiming items in Mario Kart DS, I got way more hits with green shells in it than I did in any other Mario Kart. DS is definitely my favorite Mario Kart.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 23, 2008, 01:30:13 AM
I better write a new chapter soon, or else we'll be wasting time discussing which game is the best.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: KDR_11k on December 23, 2008, 04:24:20 AM
Other than the imbalanced super items of Double Dash, the items aren't the problem with later Mario Kart games. They still reward good racing above all else, though it is definitely true that items are more common in the later games (in SMK, there is a single cluster of item boxes on each track, and they are not refreshed during the race). Even so, there is something about the first one that none of the sequels have retained, but I haven't figured out exactly what it is yet. I have a theory, though.
When you used an item in SMK, you knew exactly where it was going to go. That certainty disappeared in later games. I could feel the difference. Maybe it has something to do with analog controls. Maybe it's because the camera got floatier. Maybe it's because the item launched from its location behind or orbiting your kart, which was highly variable (I suspect this one, personally, but I can't prove anything). Whatever the reason, starting with MK64, aiming with the items became much less precise, especially green shells, which are the ultimate skill item in SMK.
I think the imprecision of the items is the source of the randomness, not the items themselves.
I blame the camera, it makes my driving much more imprecise too, I use the camera orientation to see where I'm going but in later MKs the camera's orientation doesn't match your car orientation so the camera looks one way and your car goes another. I usually steer until the camera is lined up with where I want to go, of course the camera keeps turning further then, prompting me to steer in the other direction and so on, leading to a frenzied snake line because I can't see when I've oversteered. I always played Burnout with the bumper cam mode, third person modes in driving games just suck nowadays. That's why I listened up when people started complaining that SPOGS has the camera locked exactly behind the vehicle (though the game's a failure on so many other counts that I didn't buy it).
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: BeautifulShy on December 31, 2008, 03:33:08 AM
Bumping this because I want to see what else Pap has to say.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on December 31, 2008, 12:14:40 PM
Funny enough, I was writing the next chapter yesterday, but then I got an error message and lost it. I'll try to work on it during the day, if I can get away from CF for a bit :p .
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: BeautifulShy on December 31, 2008, 12:41:44 PM
I saw you working on it yesterday.I wondered what happened.
Oh in regards to New years Day I found our last visitor.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Ymeegod on January 01, 2009, 05:38:51 PM
Nice work pap64--though I don't agree with all of it.
The first half of 08 the WII was off to a great start but in the 3rd and 4th quarter it just fell FLAT.
World of Goo (WIIware game) is the only one that stands out. A few good games like CoD World of War, De-blob, and GH World Tour were out but alot of games were disappointing to say the least.
These drougts is what killed them in the past and hopefully the flow will be better in 09--here's looking at you FFCC and Modworld. What I gripe most is Nintendo has a HUGE warchest that they never seem to open--there's alot of developers up for grabs that produce great games. Brutal Legends comes screaming to mind.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Kairon on January 01, 2009, 06:13:40 PM
What I gripe most is Nintendo has a HUGE warchest that they never seem to open--there's alot of developers up for grabs that produce great games. Brutal Legends comes screaming to mind.
It's always fun to fantasize about what Nintendo can do with all that money, but I've reached the conclusion that just because Nintendo has all that money doesn't mean they should spend it carelessly. Their policy on acquiring other developers actually makes a lot of sense: they can buy companies, but they can't buy people, which is what they really need in the end. And when Microsoft pays take-two $50 million upfront for exclusive DLC... DLC, not a game... well then, it's easy to see that you can easily get drawn into spending a lot of money for very little gain. (Sales of XBox 360's were pretty much unaffected by GTA IV's release.)
AND THEN look at today's current economic crisis, and Nintendo's intent on fiscal conservatism is GENIUS. A large reserve of cash is exactly what Nintendo needs to stay flexible in today's economy. You can't get loans, you can't get credit, and you can't get investment. By keeping a large amount in reserve instead of joining the rest of the world in an ill-advised spending frenzy, Nintendo has managed to stay above the fray of insolvency that so many companies are going through right now.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on January 01, 2009, 06:31:44 PM
And we know all know these days that some of these devs/"people" are beyond reason, so there's no point in snatching whatever firm they work for.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Ymeegod on January 01, 2009, 06:48:31 PM
I'm not suggesting that they go after the big players. But if nintendo's not re-investing it's money back into gaming why the hell should I buy their future products? They spent a crapload on all that anime crude (100's of millions) which was a utter waste of money.
There's alot of unemployed talent (Free-radical for instance) that need a few home and a fresh start and Nintendo has the cash to go head-to-head with the either MS or Sony but the simply chose not to. Yeah lots of green for them but at the same time, us gamers suffer.
Nintendo know's it's lacking RPG & FPS so if it really wanted to knock out MS than it's going have to get developers on board. SquareEnix, xSeeds, and Namco is a great start but why stop there?
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Kairon on January 01, 2009, 07:28:17 PM
But if nintendo's not re-investing it's money back into gaming why the hell should I buy their future products?
All of that cash Nintendo's sitting on IS an investment. It keeps Nintendo viable, and that viability lets them take immense risks in advancing gaming. It gives them the space to really experiment, innovate, and do things that would normally scare the bejeezus out of regular videogame publishers. Most importantly, it gives Nintendo the safety to spend as long as it takes to develop their games because... well... every Nintendo fan knows that's one of the things that makes Nintendo games good.
There's alot of unemployed talent (Free-radical for instance) that need a few home and a fresh start and Nintendo has the cash to go head-to-head with the either MS or Sony but the simply chose not to. Yeah lots of green for them but at the same time, us gamers suffer.
But seriously, Nintendo is doing everything short of becoming EA to get developers on their side. They've got the number 1 console out there, they've got low dev costs, they've got a market that's lacking a lot of competition, and they've got boundless opportunities for innovation...
Yeah, I get you. Nintendo should be doing SOMETHING to get more games on their console, but what? They've already done a great deal, and throwing money at a problem is never the solution unless you actually have a well thought out plan behind all that millions of dollars going down the drain.
Should Nintendo be more active in co-publishing perhaps? They've experimented with such on Tenchu IV and Fatal Frame IV... maybe NOJ needs to expand that program and empower their NOE and NOA branches to do likewise for key exclusives. NoA is showing a little backbone with their partnership to bring MillionHeir Case Files to the DS, maybe they could do more given a budget to apply towards Wii-exclusive third party projects that could become future de Blobs, World of Goos, The Conduits, and We Cheers. Japan side, Marvelous is easily a publisher that Nintendo could watch and be onf riendly tersm with as its the rising publisher most indicative of the upward mobility the Wii promises to companies.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: BeautifulShy on January 10, 2009, 12:40:06 PM
Hoping to see the next part...
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on January 10, 2009, 01:36:24 PM
When I get my computer back...
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: BeautifulShy on January 10, 2009, 01:42:33 PM
Alright...
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Stogi on January 10, 2009, 01:47:55 PM
Type it out on the Wii...
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_Lindy on January 10, 2009, 01:49:24 PM
Nintendo Rule No. 1: "We will never, ever spend money that we don't absolutely have to."
The next time you think to yourself, "Hey, I wonder if Nintendo will ever do [whatever]", remember this rule and apply accordingly.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: BeautifulShy on January 10, 2009, 01:52:10 PM
Lindy you broke the chain of...
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Kairon on January 10, 2009, 04:29:11 PM
Nintendo Rule No. 1: "We will never, ever spend money that we don't absolutely have to."
The next time you think to yourself, "Hey, I wonder if Nintendo will ever do [whatever]", remember this rule and apply accordingly.
This is the truth...
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: BeautifulShy on January 10, 2009, 04:39:55 PM
I can't believe Kairon said that...
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on January 10, 2009, 06:35:28 PM
Maxi, I think Kairon is bringing a different POV to the comment.
If memory serves me right and I am not mistaken I think Lindy is talking about how Nintendo should be "wisely" spending their earnings (ie, moneyhatting developers, buying exclusive titles, creating better hardware and fixing issues).
Kairon, on the other hand, is talking about how Nintendo is being careful with the money, making them stay afloat and still have money left for their products.
Again, I might be mistaken so the guys should explain themselves.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Kairon on January 10, 2009, 08:22:05 PM
Well, to be truthful, I think part of what Lindy says is right. I think that Nintendo has some ideological bent against putting themselves at risk financially. They are, after all, probably immensely proud that they haven't posted an annual loss in like, forever.
Ymeegod is making exactly the same points that us Nintendo fans have been debating for ages, especially in the dark days of the GameCube. Nintendo has all this money.... why don't they just BUY their way out of trouble?
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: decoyman on January 14, 2009, 11:48:59 AM
Well, to be truthful, I think part of what Lindy says is right. I think that Nintendo has some ideological bent against putting themselves at risk financially. They are, after all, probably immensely proud that they haven't posted an annual loss in like, forever.
It's pretty clear to me that they've just never forgotten about the Virtual Boy... :( Once bitten twice shy amirite?
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Bill Aurion on January 14, 2009, 12:26:40 PM
I think it's pretty clear that Ninty is using their money...It's just that Ninty uses it in a way that isn't flamboyant...Look at the October Conference, for example...They revealed a half-dozen new IPs, which look great, but by no means will be smash hits like Nintendogs or Brain Training...They also revealed sequels to old IPs (Punch Out, Sin & Punishment, Another Code)...Another Code didn't sell that great, considering the adventure point-and-click genre is incredibly niche, but they were willing to fund a CONSOLE version! And I predict we'll see more of these niche games as the year goes on...
As for developers, Ninty has always been wary on buying what could just end up being a name...And now that they are on top, there's even less reason for them to...Not to mention the fuss CERTAIN people would make if Nintendo started "taking up space" in genres they had never been in before...
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: KDR_11k on January 14, 2009, 12:39:55 PM
Damn you for reminding me again how much I want to know more about Dynamic Slash!
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Stogi on January 14, 2009, 02:04:28 PM
Is that the one with the girl that looks like Zelda with a gigantic sword?
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: KDR_11k on January 14, 2009, 02:36:33 PM
It's the one with the big arrow on the screenshots :P. Really, I couldn't see much from those three seconds of game footage so I'm not sure what the girl looks like, just that it involves swords, norse mythology and the usual gigantic enemies in gigantic numbers. Also it's made by Sandlot which means it's very likely awesome.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on January 14, 2009, 04:37:09 PM
I am personally looking forward to the game which had the futuristic astronaut. It reminded me a lot of Planetes...
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on January 16, 2009, 01:19:00 PM
OK, as promised here's the next chapter. In order to avoid complains about giant walls of text I decided to dive it into two parts. So while your eyes get over the first part rest assure part two will come soon...
Chapter 4: Coming soon to a WiiWare near me-ware…I mean you-ware!
Since the beginning of the Wii’s life as “The Revolution” Nintendo had promised to bring downloadable games to the system. These games would showcase hidden talent that would have been ignored thanks to high development costs and major houses overshadowing smaller studios. Granted, Nintendo wouldn’t be the first to do this. Both Microsoft and Sony promised similar services, with emphasis on online communities, features that used their HD technology to the fullest and easy to download software. But what made Nintendo’s service so interesting was the promise of full use of the Wiimote. With the promise of easy development and the flexibility of the Wii remote developers could truly be creative in control, themes and concepts, or give new life to existing ideas if they desired. And best of all, they would be easily noticed through the service.
This service would later be appropriately named “WiiWare”. The service debuted in Japan on March 25th, 2008, in the US on May 12 and in Europe on May 20.
To try and sum up ALL of the games released on the service would be threading into long read territory, so instead I’ll focus on the titles that best showcased what the service can do…
At launch, fans were treated to a very solid cast of games, each which did the service justice. In the US, the service launched with “Lost Winds”, a platforming game which used the Wii’s pointer to control the flow and movement of wind in order to complete tasks. Right out of the gate it became one of WiiWare’s best reviewed titles. Square-Enix released the solid and fun “My life as King”, a game part in the “Crystal Chronicles” series in which you played as a young king in charge of ruling and developing a kingdom. The title became notable for being the first WiiWare title to feature weekly DLC (downloadable content) in the form of new missions, costumes and jobs. Many, however, criticized this as the game alone is worth 15 dollars (1500 Wii points), and the additional content rose the price even more.
Nintendo’s own support came in the form of two core titles, “Dr. Mario Online Prescription” and “My Pokemon Ranch”. “Dr. Mario” was a remake of the classic puzzler with new online modes and a Wii exclusive, while the much maligned “Pokemon Ranch” served as a Pokemon box for fans to store their caught Diamond and Pearl creatures on the Wii.
Other Nintendo published efforts include “Magnetica Twist”, “Maboshi’s Arcade” and the elusive, once Japanese exclusive series “Artstyle”.
From the beginning it was clear that Nintendo really wanted WiiWare to showcase hidden talent and exclusive third party efforts, and thus their quiet support might have been the result of this way of thinking. As expected, this was criticized heavily by fans who wanted to download new titles feature their beloved core franchises. Nintendo has kept quiet on their new titles so everything is in the air.
Speaking of new blood developers, before the service even launched starting in 2007 many small development houses pledged support to the service and confirmed to be certified WiiWare developers. Three of them were the first to say “here!” when the topic of WiiWare came up.
The first of these was Bplus, an European development house whose first game on the service was “Plattchen Twist and Paint”. From the minute their existence became known Platchen was going to be an ambitious effort, one that even used the classic Donkey Konga Bongo controllers, but the support was cut short by Nintendo. The developers assured that their product was going to be worth the 15 dollar pricetag, thanks to an intriguing concept and great presentations.
It was eventually released on September 12, 2008. But what no one expected was the cold reception at launch. The price was already hard to swallow for some, but those that took the plunge found the game to be confusing, lacking even the basic tutorials. Very few reviewers understood what the game was about and thus gave it their most negative reviews. This was shown in sales as the title failed to show up on the top 20 best seller titles. It didn’t help that it was released alongside a major WiiWare game (more on that later…).
But despite this misstep Bplus is still at it working on their next game. No details are known yet.
The second developer to pledge WiiWare support was “Medaverse Studios”, set in the United States. In the summer of 2007 they announced that they would be developing games after years of being a fan site for gaming news, and later in the year they made Wii as their console of choice. While a game named “Paranoia” was somewhat confirmed to be in the works, their first official WiiWare title was named “Gravitronix”. But unlike the other developers who flooded sites with information Medaverse Studios has kept quiet on their development. They have, however, appeared in various news outlets, including MSNBC, and discussed their stance as small town developers.
Their silence on the game has gained them some infamy, with gamers wondering if such game exists. As of this writing, no new details, screenshots or video footage has been shown to the public, but they keep assuring that a game is being made. Will they flourish on Wii or are they just hot gas?
Finally, there’s Nnooo, an Australian developer with “pOp” being their first WiiWare title. It was also the first title showcased by Nintendo and a WiiWare launch title. The best word to describe the title was “solid”. It was a simple concept that was quite solid in execution. It also gained a small fanbase.
So to sum it up, one saw success at launch, one proved to be too ambitious, and the other have words but no proof or game to back up those claims. These companies have already shown that the service can be a successful outlet for their creativity to shine while providing cautionary tales for those interested in game development. But we are not done yet. While you digest this giant wall of text stay tunned as we continue discussing WiiWare, this time through the eyes of a third party developer.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: KDR_11k on January 16, 2009, 01:31:46 PM
As I said on WWW, I don't ever expect them to make any major entries in their major franchises on WiiWare. MM9 was a model that only worked for this specific franchise (hasn't been good since the NES era, tried to "de-canonize" the bad ones). A Nintendo game with a new entry, even if it was designed for a retro styling would probably mimic at least the SNES era since they saw marked improvements in their SNES versions (noone would want a NES-style Metroid game, Zelda may be debatable due to the different style but I don't think people would want it with NES graphics either) and from there it's a tiny step to the DS. Big name Nintendo games can easily afford to go retail (or would anyone say that a new 2d Metroid wouldn't sell for more than 10$?) and thus they will. Smaller games like puzzles and such can go on the WiiWare service because small games fit better with a cheap price. Full-sized main entries into a series? No way.
Was the FFCC content really weekly? I recall two release batches but that was it (maybe they were staggered more in Japan?)
As for B+'s next game, they released Niki: Rock 'n Ball in Europe, I think it's still not out in the US. IMO it's a bad game with bad controls and tedious mechanics but it got an 8/10 on WWW so maybe others can get more out of it.
For small indie shops, did you postpone 2DBoy to the next issue?
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: NWR_pap64 on January 16, 2009, 01:39:55 PM
As I said on WWW, I don't ever expect them to make any major entries in their major franchises on WiiWare. MM9 was a model that only worked for this specific franchise (hasn't been good since the NES era, tried to "de-canonize" the bad ones). A Nintendo game with a new entry, even if it was designed for a retro styling would probably mimic at least the SNES era since they saw marked improvements in their SNES versions (noone would want a NES-style Metroid game, Zelda may be debatable due to the different style but I don't think people would want it with NES graphics either) and from there it's a tiny step to the DS. Big name Nintendo games can easily afford to go retail (or would anyone say that a new 2d Metroid wouldn't sell for more than 10$?) and thus they will. Smaller games like puzzles and such can go on the WiiWare service because small games fit better with a cheap price. Full-sized main entries into a series? No way.
Was the FFCC content really weekly? I recall two release batches but that was it (maybe they were staggered more in Japan?)
As for B+'s next game, they released Niki: Rock 'n Ball in Europe, I think it's still not out in the US. IMO it's a bad game with bad controls and tedious mechanics but it got an 8/10 on WWW so maybe others can get more out of it.
For small indie shops, did you postpone 2DBoy to the next issue?
Regarding 2D Boy, yes. I will mention World of Goo as not only the most important WiiWare title yet but one of the best releases of the year.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: GoldenPhoenix on January 18, 2009, 01:14:03 AM
Nice work pap64--though I don't agree with all of it.
The first half of 08 the WII was off to a great start but in the 3rd and 4th quarter it just fell FLAT.
World of Goo (WIIware game) is the only one that stands out. A few good games like CoD World of War, De-blob, and GH World Tour were out but alot of games were disappointing to say the least.
These drougts is what killed them in the past and hopefully the flow will be better in 09--here's looking at you FFCC and Modworld. What I gripe most is Nintendo has a HUGE warchest that they never seem to open--there's alot of developers up for grabs that produce great games. Brutal Legends comes screaming to mind.
No mention of Wario? Sad to see people constantly overlooking it. Not to mention AC:CF which people are STILL enjoying.
I think we need to differentiate between OUR disappointments and overall. Wii Music and AC did VERY well and semmed to have broad appeal.
Title: Re: The Wii in 2008 or... "THE TERRIBLE TWOS!!!"
Post by: Ymeegod on January 19, 2009, 03:57:27 PM
Haven't gotten around to Wario Land yet. I still have the new Kriby on the DS to finish but I might give it a go.
