Messages

3826

TalkBack / Re: IMPRESSIONS: Guitar Hero World Tour

« on: September 22, 2008, 07:23:34 PM »

Honestly, that's a good point.

3827

TalkBack / Re: Proto Man to Playable Via DLC in Mega Man 9

« on: September 22, 2008, 05:55:37 PM »

Yeah, all that extra DCL kind of sucks. That's eight more bucks for stuff that could've (should've) been in the core game. I would have preferred paying $20 and getting all that content at once, really. I probably wouldn't use all of it, but at least it would be THERE.

Having said that, I still think that Protoman is worth it. Hero Mode might be cool if the core game isn't tough enough, and Special Stage sounds good.

You know, here's what I don't like: I could look forward to new DCL for Mega Man: Powered UP! on the PSP almost every week from the game's launch to just over a year later, when DCL support stopped. And this was some sick DCL, like new Roll costumes, challenge stages, new build-a-stage parts, and, yes, even Protoman as a playable character.* And it was all FREE.

I don't know why Capcom is going the nickle-and-dime route. My guess is that it's Nintendo wanting to make as much money as possible out of the game. The Big N knows that MM9 is a huge WiiWare release, and that many, many people will buy the extra content. I'm betting that if it was up to Capcom, we'd be getting a slightly more expensive, but more complete, game.

*Protoman was actually unlockable in Powered UP!, but to do so, you had to complete all of the challenges in Challenge Mode. Some of the challenges were damn near impossible, so I had given up on ever playing as the Blue Bomber's older brother. I was very happy when, as their last hurrah to Powered UP! players, Capcom offered him as DCL.

3828

TalkBack / Re: IMPRESSIONS: Guitar Hero World Tour

« on: September 22, 2008, 03:37:13 PM »

So...wait a second. Now I'm considering the Wii version over the PS3 version. I suppose it'll all come down to which one costs less. Of course, on the PS3, I'm a total graphics whore, so it might win out just for that aspect alone. :-(

I know, I know, I'm a bad person.

3829

TalkBack / Re: Proto Man to Playable Via DLC in Mega Man 9

« on: September 22, 2008, 03:08:41 PM »

I'm down with this. Part of MM9's appeal is going to be the almighty speed run. I'm betting that Protoman will help get through the game a little faster. Besides, $2 is a fair price (to me). Here's why:

Buy $20 of Wii Points

- $8 for Vectorman
- $10 for MM9
------------------------------
$2 left over

- $2 for Protoman

Huzzah!

3830

TalkBack / Re: REVIEWS: de Blob

« on: September 21, 2008, 03:58:11 AM »

See, I'd always thought this was a WiiWare game. Ah well, it'll get cheaper someday.

3831

TalkBack / Re: Mega Man 9 Release Date Revealed

« on: September 20, 2008, 02:43:34 AM »

I don't think I've been more excited about a Wii game since...um...Smash Bros.?

3832

TalkBack / Re: Gaming's Graphical Future

« on: September 19, 2008, 04:59:07 PM »

I wrote a big long post but it didn't post for whatever reason. Basically, it boiled down to Scott McCloud's "Picture Plane" and why it supports abstraction over photorealism in video games. Wind Waker wins by default of human nature.

[Find everything except the “MillionHeir.”]

3833

TalkBack / REVIEWS: Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir

« on: September 19, 2008, 07:58:37 AM »

Find everything except the “MillionHeir.”
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewArt.cfm?artid=16707

 You are a detective who detects things by finding small objects among large static backgrounds. You know those I Spy books? Yeah, like those. After you find enough objects from a long list, you solve a slide puzzle or some similar menial task, and then your witness coughs up information that doesn’t seem to have any relevancy to the case. Oh, right, the case. You’re investigating the disappearance (or murder, it’s never really made clear) of Mr. Phil T. Rich. The only way to investigate an area is to look for specific objects in rooms that make TGI Friday’s walls barren by comparison.    

As you investigate more witnesses and find more kitsch, you are awarded new devices that let you find even more objects, like an X-ray scope, flashlight, and the ability to interact with certain objects. For example, if one of the clues is "fill the bottle," you find an empty bottle, hold down L or R, and color it in.    

This is basically the entire game. On the "Hard" difficulty setting, you have a limited but very adequate amount of time to find all the objects in a room. If you’re stuck, you can always use a hint, which tells you where the next item on the list is. Yeah, the objects aren’t always as obvious as they appear—such is the charm—but there is very little to this game. At its most basic level, Mystery Case Files is a portable version of the I Spy books, so if you’re into that sort of thing, you might like this game.    

The static backgrounds are nicely detailed, and some feature ambient animations, like falling leaves or swinging cables. The music is subtle but appropriate given whatever image you’re investigating. Character sprites (witnesses) are charmingly exaggerated, although they never animate. After investigating a number of rooms, you’ll be given a DS-specific mini-game to complete, like a slide puzzle, traditional puzzle (you rotate the pieces with the stylus), or blowing on the mic to clear dust off a document. The mini-games are my favorite part of Mystery Case Files, because they provide a nice change of pace from the constant searches.    

You don’t actually do any detective work. It’s all put together for you in the background by your trusty computer, who takes your hand at every turn, leading you to your next objective without any muss or fuss. Thus, the plotline is forgettable and merely provides some abstract context to your endless eye-straining.    

I will say that the interface is well thought-out. Each static image is larger than the DS touch screen. You move around it by dragging the image around with your stylus, a motion that feels very comfortable. The top screen displays a thumbnail of the entire image and the list of things to find. Tap an item to find it, or hold down the L or R buttons and doodle with it to fulfill its often bizarre condition. The clue "Five crossed out" is particularly interesting.    

There are also some multiplayer options. Up to four players (each with their own copy of the game, of course) can either search a room cooperatively to achieve a fast time or competitively, to see who can find all the objects the quickest. But if your buddy does not have the game, you can send him or her the demo wirelessly. This is the same demo they can get on the Nintendo Channel.    

Overall, there’s just not much here. The game might actually have been more enjoyable without the pretext of a plotline. Just give me a bunch of puzzles with some mini-games thrown in for good measure, and that’s perfectly satisfactory. As a Touch Generations game, Mystery Case Files would’ve done well to simplify itself. CrossworDS didn’t need any flair or storyline. It’s a crosswords game. This is an “I Spy” game. If you like such things, you might like this, and if not, you can safely ignore it.

Pros:
       

More "I Spy" action than you can shake a stylus at

 

Control scheme feels natural and is, at times, inventive

 

Mini-games break up the image-searching tedium

 

There are some interesting multiplayer options

       Cons:
       

Plotline actually detracts from the experience

 

Some of the object clues are a little abstract

 

Multiplayer options require extra game cards

               Graphics:  8.0
       The visuals are good, being static images. Nothing is too small to see, and you’d really be amazed at how many little things make up each room. The character portraits are aesthetically pleasing, although I wish they were animated to some extent.

               Sound:  8.0
       I like all the music, subtle though it may be, and the ambient sound effects (wind rustling through the trees, drips in a mine, creaking doors in an old museum) add to the experience as well.

               Control:  9.0
       Love that stylus control.

                      Gameplay:  6.0
       Do a whole bunch of I Spy-ing, then a mini-game. Repeat endlessly. There’s not a lot here!

 

       Lastability:  8.0
       If you love this kind of game, there are dozens upon dozens of rooms to search, as well as multiple difficulty levels.

 

       Final:  6.0
       The game is just too limited for me to recommend it, especially when there are other Touch Generations games that are so much more entertaining. Tetris DS, CrossworDS, heck, even Professor Layton. Now, it’s true that none of them involve looking for tiny objects amid a sea of kitsch, but trust me when I say that such a task quickly become monotonous, and the plotline only distracts from one’s enjoyment of the title.      

3834

TalkBack / Re: Soulcalibur IV: An Informal Review

« on: September 18, 2008, 03:28:56 PM »

Well, sure. There's a format we follow for formal reviews. Speaking of formal reviews, expect to see a new-fangled review of I Spy...I mean, Mystery Case Files within the next day or two.

3835

TalkBack / Soulcalibur IV: An Informal Review

« on: September 16, 2008, 04:38:33 PM »

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=16695

  In general, I hate fighting games. I'm traditionally very bad at them, especially the 2D kind. God, get me behind the controller of a King of Fighters or Street Fighter game and you will see some first-class button mashing. As I struggle to land a single hit, my opponents often tease and jest, keeping just a few pixels from my position, and then let loose with some punishing 118-hit combo which basically ends the round. What about Tekken? That's a 3D fighter that actually feels like a different animal, but again, my performance makes that of a blind chimpanzee seem fairly hardcore. No, dear readers, Soulcalibur has been my one and only fighting game, from the Dreamcast onward. It is the only fighter, 3D or otherwise, I feel somewhat good at. And now that franchise has hit the PS3...and I love it. You might, too.    

What's always been so great about Soulcalibur (in my mind) is that it combines pick-up-and-playability with the motivation to become really good on your own. You can dedicate days to learning the in's and out's of a single character. And if you're talking about Ivy, you can spend weeks, now that her stances have changed again. On the other hand, if you just want to duke it out with the computer for some quick in-game change, you can do that, too. While the AI doesn't necessarily reward spamming, it doesn't heavily discourage it, so newbies and experts alike can get into the game.    

Soulcalibur on the Dreamcast was a piece of perfection, an arcade game faithfully reproduced on a home console and, more impressively, a console gamepad. When SC2 rolled around, I picked up the GameCube version so I could play as Link, and I found the fighting engine to be just as flexible and welcoming as it was before. Plus, the Hero of Time was a great addition to the cast (I wish he'd return!). I spent months with Soulcalibur 2. Like SC before it, SC2 had a sort of "mission mode," in which you fought under bizarre conditions to earn unlockables and coinage. SC2 also introduced the "Soul Charge," which powered up some attacks to become unblockable.    

The Soul Charge would say "bye bye" in SC3, a PS2 exclusive which differed too greatly from its predecessors to warrant much time. Mission Mode became "Chronicles of the Sword," a very strange RTS/Fighting hybrid which was slow-moving and, at the higher levels, ridiculously difficult. However, SC3 introduced two important new concepts to the series: Character creation and fighting multiple opponents during a single fight.    

And now we've got SC4, which has the potential to be the best game in the series. Overall, it falls a little short of the greatness that was SC2, but the gameplay is tighter, the mission structure is more refined, and the character creation aspect is impressively deep. What's more, SC4 adds a robust online element, although there are pros and cons to it that will need to be addressed in the next game.    

For the solo player, SC4 is divided roughly into thirds: Story Mode, which follows one character through five fights in their quest to obtain/destroy the Soul Calibur/Edge, Arcade Mode, which tests your skills against a string of difficult single battles, and Tower of Lost Souls, which provides SC4's "mission mode." Story Mode is notable both for its brevity (each playthrough lasts less than 10 minutes) and for the fact that ending sequences are told through in-game cinematics instead of boring static images and scrolling text. Story Mode is where the bulk of your time will be spent, mostly because it's a quick way to earn cash and level-up individual character traits (more on that later).    

Arcade Mode is designed with difficulty in mind. Players are asked to fight eight battles of increasing difficulty and are ranked based on their performance. These rankings can be compared with those of other players online, so if you're into that kind of thing, competition can be fierce. And like Story Mode, it's a good way to level-up your characters.    

Tower of Lost Souls was implimented with created characters in mind. You take up to three fighters through a series of floors and are given an option task to accomplish on each floor. For example, one challenge might be to switch out with your partner three times, while another demands that you never miss an attack. One of the toughest challenges is to defeat your opponent while the timer is on zero. Whenever you succeed in accomplishing a goal, you are rewarded with a fat cash prize or a piece of equipment for the Character Creation mode. As you climb higher in the tower, the difficulty increases substantially, so simply beating the opposition may take priority over acquiring the treasures (which you can re-try later).    

Character Creation is ridiculous in its depth and puts the same mode in SC3 to absolute shame. Remember in SC3 how you couldn't change your character's body type? Well, now you can. You can make a warrior woman with Mai Shiranui's proportions if you want. You can increase or decrease both the level of musculature and limb mass. The only thing you can't really change is height. And then there's the equipment--hundreds of pieces of interchangable gear for women and men, each with its own set of statistics. Your fighter will eventually be ordained with unique skills, such as "Auto Impact A," which turns a large fraction of your normal blocks into Guard Impacts, or "Nullify Ring-Out S," which makes being kicked off a ledge impossible. Each of the stats which modify which skill set (Power, Impact, Boost, Gauge, Special) fluctuates based on what gear and weapons you select. Do you see where this is going? Yeah, it's insane. What's more, each piece of equipment modifies your character's attack damage, defense, and total HP. Do you want to create a dude with 200% HP? You can do that, maybe at the expensve of your skill set, but the point is that it's possible. The game welcomes customization based on individual player strategy. And you can create up to 50 characters!    

You can even modify existing SC4 roster characters. While you can't change their unique costumes (besides change their colors), you are always able to switch up their secondary costumes. Primary character models are able to equip "Special Equipment," a group of accessories available only to SC4 roster characters which increase or decrease certain stats. You can then select that skill set as you would a different costume on the player select screen.    

The Character Creation mode's only real downside is that, unlike SC3, you are unable to create characters based on alternate weapons not found on the roster. Remember the tambourines and grieve edge boots in SC3? They're nowhere to be found here. Instead, you are limited to existing character movesets. As you defeat more opponents with any single moveset (like Kilik's), that moveset levels up, allowing that character access to more skills. Of course, once you gain access to the best skills, you will probably have to mess around with that character's weapons and equipment before you have the attribute points necessary to equip them!    

Online Mode is also introduced. You can play against opponents for fun or for rank. The more opponents you beat in a ranked game, the more experience you get, and the higher your online level increases. Online levels exist as a way for you to gauge your opponent's skill level before entering a game. I'm only at level 3, so I don't want to go up against some level 22 guy. For me, anyway, online mode is kind of a throwaway. After playing enough online to earn some Honors (Achievements), I gave it up, as there were problems.    

First, you can customize any match request, but when the result screen comes up, there will often be a lack of matching players. Second, if there ARE matching players, selecting one will usually result in the message "The Session is Already Full," and the game will boot you back to the match request screen, where you must re-enter your match request and sit 'n' twiddle your thumbs while the computer searches again. Also, you should never enter a match with less than 4 bars of connection, as doing so results in crippling lag. So if you like online play, that's really a lot to sit through. If you don't, like me, you can simply ignore it.    

Okay, so enough about the modes. What about the gameplay? It's Soulcalibur! X is horizontal attack, Triangle is vertical attack, O is kick, and X is block--same as always! Character movesets have been tweaked from the last game or reworked entirely (they gave Ivy a whole new stance), and some previously cloned characters have finally gotten their own movesets (Seigfried is no longer Nightmare's clone, and Amy plays very differently from Raphael, for example). Rock is still lame, though. There are several additions to the roster:    

Hilde is a heavily-armored, lance-wielding spitfire who, aesthetically, is the complete opposite of her female companions. She's also great fun to play as, but takes some getting used to, as her moveset feels much different than the other SC fighters.    

Shura, Angol Fear, Ashlotte, Kamikirimusi, and Scheherazade are all "bonus" characters designed by prominant Japanese comic book artists. Those five girls are heavily stylized (only Shura seems to fit the SC aesthetic) and have cloned movesets. They are unlocked as you play through Story Mode.    

Famously, Darth Vader appears on the PS3, while Yoda is on the 360. I suspect that, in time, each missing character will be available as DLC on both systems since the full character roster still has two open slots: One for a random character choice and another right next to Darth and Starkiller. Since I have a PS3, I got Anakin. He's slow but brutally powerful, and, oddly enough, fits in with the rest of the SC gang.    

But Starkiller, Vader's "secret" apprentice, doesn't. He holds his lightsaber backwards and enters every fight in an awkward stance. His attacks are powerful, sometimes too much so, but he's fairly difficult to control. Also, his design is generic and boring. I never play as Starkiller unless I have to use his broken Force Throw move to easily  ring-out opponents in the Tower of Lost Souls.    

The overall gameplay package gets a new addition called "Critical Finishes," which are essentially fatalities. However, they are brought on by the defender. Players who block too often will bring their Soul Gauge down. Cracking that orb results in a stun, during which time the opposition can unleash a one-hit-kill maneuver. Stay at least partially on the offensive and you'll be fine, although some of the Critical Finishes are really cool. Switching out is another first for the series. During the Story and Tower modes, you can press R2 to switch between your available characters. Doing so will allow the resting character to regain their HP.    

I really wish they'd used a multiplayer switch option, so that two players could tackle the Tower together. Maybe in the next game.    

Graphically, SC4 is eye-poppingly gorgeous. The shadows, particles, and light effects dazzle and confuse the mind, while the character models move with newfound life and great facial expression work. And don't discount the background elements. You'll be fighting alongside hippos and dodo birds, a magma cauldon, and, yes, the Death Star Hanger as ships fly in and out. My only wish is that...*gulp*...SC4 had the same "breast physics" that DoA4 and DoAX2 do. Why? Well, it looks strange when Ivy's string bikini is somehow holding her bustling busom in a lock when that's clearly not what would be happening. The same follows for Shura and Sophitia, both of whom should be falling out of their tops.    

Not that I want them to be falling out of their tops, but when the rest of the game's physics engine is so top-notch, it's strange to see that one area (two areas?) not conform.    

The music is equally awesome and epic, although I can't say the same for the voice acting, which retains the series trademark of being hammy and uninspired. Half of it doesn't make any sense, but at least they improved it from SC3 by making some of the character say context-sensitive things (like when Sophitia fights Cassandra in Story Mode). But really, there is no storyline. I mean, there is, sorta, but that's not why you're playing this game.    

So yeah, SC4 is freaking awesome. Yeah, there are some minor problems here and there, but nothing big. Overall, it's a wonderful, wonderful game and I can't recommend it any higher. In fact, the only reason I say it's slightly inferior to SC2 is that SC2 had a far more robust Museum, whereas the one in SC4 is meager and unimpressive. But again, that's not the main draw. That'd be the fighting engine, graphics, Character Creation and...    

Well...    

Bewbies. Let's be honest. ;-)

3836

TalkBack / Re: This Week's Virtual Console and WiiWare

« on: September 16, 2008, 01:13:14 PM »

If you're able to get Quick Man in a holding pattern, he's a cinch. Otherwise, just bring your trust Flash Stopper and wail on him for a few seconds.

3837

TalkBack / Re: PREVIEWS: Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir

« on: September 12, 2008, 03:05:18 PM »

I just got this game in the mail for a review. It's not as bad as all that. If you like the "I Spy" books, you'll like this game. There are some interesting DS-specific minigames, too. Expect a full review by the end of the weekend.

3838

TalkBack / Re: Perrin Kaplan to Return to Gaming

« on: September 08, 2008, 12:26:45 AM »

Oh, yay. Perrin always struck me a cold, impersonal, and...well...mean. As though doing interviews was the last possible thing she'd like to be doing right then. You know, below going to a wake. For a loved one. Like her own mother.

3839

TalkBack / Re: Fanboyism, or Cutting off Your Nose to Spite Your Face

« on: September 04, 2008, 08:40:17 PM »

Nail on the head! :-D

3840

TalkBack / Re: RE: Nintendo World Report is Hiring!

« on: September 03, 2008, 07:24:59 PM »

They pay free in-store credit on crap games that you for whatever reason volunteer to play (i.e. Hommie Rollerz).

Sometimes, if you pretend to be dead, you can hide out and do nothing but review horrifyingly awful games. ;-)

3841

TalkBack / Re: Virtual Console Recommendations: Blue, Green, and RPG All Over

« on: September 03, 2008, 03:40:10 PM »

MM2 is one of the best NES games ever made. MM3 is just slightly lower quality, only because of the reworked stages before Wily's castle, which seemed like a time sink. Snake Man's stage, though, is one of the great Mega Man levels. Top Man, too. In fact, Top Man has the best individual stage music in the entire NES series run.

Although Bubble Man's music was also pretty kickass...

A lot of people didn't like MM4, but I did. The Mega Buster isn't a game-breaking mechanic. It's balanced out by the fact that keeping your thumb on the B button is kind of a chore. :-) Hell, even MM5 had its moments, like Napalm Man's design and Gravity Man's stage.

I'd really like to see the Powered UP series continue, if only to see old boss characters get new designs.

3842

TalkBack / Re: PAX '08: The Home Stretch

« on: September 03, 2008, 03:08:46 PM »

Hot chicks? No, sir. G4 lied to us--none of them look like that one host.

3843

TalkBack / Re: PAX '08: The Home Stretch

« on: September 02, 2008, 04:48:41 PM »

I should mention one troubling thing I overheard while playing Wario Land.

An attendee went up to one of the Nintendo reps and asked when we'll be seeing Earthbound on the VC. The rep said that Nintendo of America needs clearance from Nintendo of Japan to do that, and NoJ isn't gonna give us Earthbound. Sorry, kids. Why? Because when it was originally released on the SNES, Earthbound sold well in Asia and Europe, but NOT in North America.

Thus, Nintendo of Japan doesn't think that enough gamers will buy it over here to cover the costs of porting it to the VC. That seems stupid to me. How much can it possibly cost to port an existing North American version of a Super Nintendo game to the VC? The rep eventually said that while Earthbound may be released here in the future, it won't see the light of day "at least this year."

Screw you, Nintendo of Japan.

3844

TalkBack / Re: This Week's Virtual Console and WiiWare

« on: September 02, 2008, 03:32:01 PM »

AWESOME.

3845

TalkBack / PAX '08: The Home Stretch

« on: September 02, 2008, 03:48:44 PM »

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=16629

  Sunday, August 31st was my last day at PAX. I didn't even stay the whole time. I was exhausted, paranoid about the time (I didn't have a watch), nervous that I'd miss my bus to the airport, and worried that somebody at the hotel would crush my Fallout 3 poster (signed by Gabe & Tycho) while it and my roller sat in their luggage waiting room. So that morning found me a bit frazzled! However, I still managed to have a fairly good time at PAX, and even played some of the games I'd been wanting to play.    

I awoke at 9:30 and checked out of my hotel room first thing. Happily, my kind hosts allowed me to keep my excess luggage there until my airport shuttle arrived to pick me up. So I once again grabbed my green messanger bag and headed off to the convention center. First stop: The Expo Hall, which had not yet opened. A line had formed at its hallowed doors, and we were quickly led into the hall. I took this opportunity to play two songs in Guitar Hero 4. I rocked to "The Joker" and "Livin' on a Prayer" with the lead and bass guitar parts, respectively. I asked the guy who played drums whether he liked them more than Rock Band's. He said yes, but that the drums in Guitar Hero 4 seemed more difficult.    

I watched with horror as the next band attempted Muse's "Assassin," which makes "Knight of Cydonia" look like child's play. So that was fun. Then I played "Iron Chef America" for the Wii. You chop, stir, flip, grate, and add garnish using the Wii Remote. And here's the scary part: It's surprisingly fun and engaging. Next stop: Sega's booth, where there were lines for every game except Dinosaur King, a Pokemon game with...wait for it...scientifically accurate dinosaurs. Well, not so much accurate in that the tyrannosaurs are breathing fire, but in terms of gross anatomy. It was wonderful. My Triceratops totally beat my opponent's Kentrosaurus with some kind of a high-flying flip. The Sega exec assured me that many kinds of dinosaurs were represented in the final game, including Carnotaurus. This excited me. It's also worth mentioning that the battles take place in 3D, and it's damn good 3D.    

Again, I tried without success to play THE CONDUIT, but I watched a few more people play. It borrows a little bit from Halo in that the main weapon is essentially an energy pistol, and you can only have two weapons at a time. Lots of people were chucking grenades, and I noticed that grenades have a real bounce to them, and rarely landed where intended. Maybe it was just a rush-job demo. Let's hope so, because as it stands, THE CONDUIT looks a little green around the gills.    

Do people even say "green around the gills" anymore?    

After eating pizza for lunch, I went and sat in on Family Feud: PAX Edition! It was very funny. 150 audience members were polled for the questions, and two teams had to guess what the most popular answers were. I only sat in on the last half-hour, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. What was the first video game console you played? Most popular answer: NES. Least popular answer: Sega Master System. Other answers included Commodore 64, SNES, and PS1. What do you do when the electricity goes out? Most popular answer: Play a handheld! Least popular answer: Pleasure yourself. Other answers included reading, drinking, and staring at the wall or crying. Very funny. Right after that was a 2nd Q&A session with Tycho and Gabe. It wasn't very long, but those are some funny guys! I asked when the PA figurines are coming out, and Gabe said they're looking for a sculptor, but we should expect them soon. They're also changing publishers from Dark Horse to Random House for the PA collection books. The next one should hit early '09.    

Then it was time for the Spore screening! Spore looks awesome. The creator engine is f*cking insane, as many of you already know. The exec showed us a Yoda creature. It looked just like Yoda. You start out as a little one-eyed bacteria swimming around and eating plant or animal matter. You find a mate, make an egg, and then get to select a new adaptation for the baby. You then play as the baby, and this process continues for about fifteen to twenty minutes. What you eat and what adaptations you choose will have consequences in the Creature phase. For example, if you had spikes on your head in the bacteria phase, you will enter the Creature phase with the ability to headbutt enemies. The growth process is similar in the Creature phase, but you can now cause other species to go extinct.    

After the Creature phase, you graduate to the Tribe phase, at which point my interest began to wane. Because you now manage an entire tribe of critters, you have to do a lot more micromanagement. Menus take on new importance. I can only imagine that the next two phases, Society and Space, involve even more micromanagement. It looks great for the ability to craft your own monster (I'd like to build some beasties from the book Expedition by Wayne Douglass Barlowe) but I don't want to hold society's hand. When you cross from adventure game to sim game, I say "meh." Still, you have to appreciate the sheer scope of Spore. It really is like nothing else that's come before.    

After that, I took a break from the expo and headed out to Zanadu, a comic shop not too far from the convention center. I found some books for the flight home and a kickass statue of Brandy from my favorite comic, Liberty Meadows (cost a pretty penny, though). Then I walked Brandy back to the hotel because I didn't want to be dragging her everywhere I went. By the time I got back there, I was tired and cranky, so I picked up my baggage and poster and waited for the airport bus. It arrived quickly, and would you believe that I got a much earlier flight into town? I was so happy.    

Overall, PAX was fun, and I'm glad I went, but unless they find a bigger venue next year, I don't think I'll be going back. You gotta go once, though, right? And hey, I met one of my readers, which is cool.

3846

TalkBack / PAX '08: The Return of Rocky Road

« on: August 30, 2008, 03:31:00 PM »

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=16618

  After being totally overwhelmed yesterday, I awoke this morn knowing what to expect, and went in with fresh eyes. Today, I learned that PAX amounts to a whole lot of "hurry up and wait" segments, punctuated by brief moments of triumph. I had a pretty packed schedule today, so I started early. Among my achivements: Playing lots of demos, meeting one of my readers, seeing awesome demo screenings, and of course, getting the autographs of our esteemed hosts. Tomorrow will not be so hectic, as my bus leaves in the late afternoon and the expo hall will be winding down earlier. Luckily, today was a freaking blast.    

I awoke without the help of an alarm, even though I'd set the alarm the night before. But my body woke me up at 10:15 a.m., a quarter-hour later than the theoretical alarm time. Groggy and venom-tongued, I stumbled from my comfy bed down to the streets, looking for a coffee shop. I arrived at the convention center quickly, as I now knew what route to take. I shuffled up the escalators to the in-building coffee shop, where I waited for probably forty minutes for a large hot chocolate (I hate coffee). It was made with an inferior product to what I'm used to! Unabated, I wandered toward the expo hall with demos in mind.    

The first game I played was Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Ladies and germs, it's the exact same game we've been playing since Dawn of Sorrow. The only difference is that ALL of your weapon and magic attacks are dependant on your MP. There are some standard moves which you learn (like a rubber-band-like jumping mechanism) which do not require MP, but everything from knife throwing to sword-swinging does, which is bizarre. The demo was short, and the girl at the DS "booth" claimed that Konami would only say that the game was coming out this fall. I will give Konami some credit for changing some of the monster sprites, but otherwise it's a pretty standard portable Castlevania.    

Next up: Kirby's Super Star ULTRA. Was I impressed? No. If you still have your old SNES and the original game, you're fine. The demo consisted only of "Spring Breeze," the first game on the SNES cart, and everything from the character sprites to the animations were exactly the same. There are some new 3D cutscenes, which did not excite me.    

I was able to download a demo of Prince of Persia DS at a DS download station, and I can tell you all that it sucks. It's a sidescroller that's controlled almost entirely by the touchscreen, kind of like Phantom Hourglass but not nearly as polished. The demo lasted all of five minutes, and at least four of those minutes were tedious and unenjoyable.    

But enough about the DS, let's talk Wii! Let me assure all of you that Wario Land: Shake It is the next big Wii game for the fanbase. It is a beautiful game that is very reminiscent of the old Game Boy originals. Like those titles, Shake It is a straight 2D platformer. The big difference here is that Wario can pick up and shake things including bags of money, enemies, statues, etc. The goals in each stage differ, but getting plenty of loot is always a top priority. I can't describe how well the game plays and looks. There's a real cartoon vibe there, influenced in a small way by how anime cartoons "move." I loved it.    

I got to play Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Force Unleashed wasn't on the show floor), and while it's impressive in its own right, I almost feel like the Wii is holding it back. The character models are a bit blocky, and model outlines are a little fuzzy. I was impressed with how well the lightsaber combat worked, though. Even without the Wii Motion Plus, swinging the Wii Remote in various directions was mimicked onscreen very precisely. Only the player vs. player combat was shown, though. Whether the single-player mode will offer anything different, I can't say. I hope so, though.    

I watched people play Mario Sluggers, Wii Music, and Animal Crossing, and I cried inside. Wii Music is awful. I didn't partake, but the entire game amounts to pretending rhythmically swing the Wii Remote to a song. If you don't get the rhythm right, the game doesn't care. And nobody had fun playing it. The Miis onscreen just bop and sway to whatever you're doing. The graphical presentation just isn't there. I heard one of the Nintendo reps explaining to somebody that the game is for the whole family, and anybody can sit down and enjoy it, no matter what their skill level. Meanwhile, ten feet away, people were ROCKING THE F*CK OUT in Guitar Hero: World Tour.  Animal Crossing looks like crap. And I don't mean that it looks boring (which it does), but that, graphically, it looks like poop. The Wii is a powerful piece of hardware, folks. It can produce beautiful games like Mario Galaxy and Umbrella Chronicles. Animal Crossing looks like something the GameCube could outdo! It was also odd that the world rotates as you walk around, so things pop up over the horizen. I miss the good ol' isometric viewpoint.   Please don't make me talk about Mario Sluggers. It makes me feel frightened and confused.    

And then we get to...THE CONDUIT. Now, I was unable to actually play the game, but I watched many, many people play, and I asked Tim (from the forums...his avi name escapes me at the moment) how it played, because he played it. Bottom line: If THE CONDUIT were on any other system, even the PS2...we would not be giving it a second glance. I know, you guys were really looking forward to THE CONDUIT, but you heard it here first--it's nothing special. The worst sin is that it's generic-looking. Decimated city, lots of bipedal alien soldiers and gunfire. Whoopie. There is a distinct lack of lighting, and the environments look blocky and bland. Aliens are greenish yellow. That never changes--even the boss was greenish yellow. Tim described the control scheme as finnicky, and he said that it's very similar to Metroid Prime 3, but not as refined. This doesn't surprise me. None of the people I watched were able to aim with any real accuracy. The crosshair was going crazy. Overall, aiming seemed jerky. Tomorrow, I hope to actually PLAY the game, but the line today was horribly long.    

The big event for me was the Fallout 3 screening. I waited in line for probably an hour to see the half-hour demo on a big screen. Reps handed out little cards to everyone. There were five or six different cards, with different "attributes" like Intelligence or Strength. Tim and I thought they were just cheap swag. The demo was insane. You get to blow up a damn village with an atomic bomb and fight mutant crabs while creepy 40's music plays on your radio. You can target specific body parts on enemies and blast their heads off with an iron stake. You can activate helper droids which fire brutal laser beams at opponents, and knock dudes across the room with a gas-powered melee glove.    

It's awesome.    

When the demo was over, we found out that the cards actually meant better swag. Depending on your card's rarity, you got one of several prizes, the best of which included an Xbox 360, 5 years of Xbox Live, whatever Fallout version you wanted, and a bunch of other cool stuff. I got the most common card, which meant a poster. Yippee. Tim got a hand puppet, that lucky dog. After that, we stood in line at Tycho & Gabe's autograph signing. I got the boys to sign my Fallout 3 poster (now suddenly more awesome!) and my PA collection book.    

We then ran into a theater for another demo screening--Prince of Peria and Far Cry 2. Prince of Persia looks devestatinglyl awesome. It seems to combine the environmental exploration of Sands of Time and/or Tomb Raider: Anniversary with the freerunning mechanic of Assassin's Creed and a unique one-on-one combat system. The game is stunningly beautiful, one of the best-looking games on the show floor. Ubisoft is doing a cross-media promotional thing for the Prince, including a comic (art by Gabe, shipped with the limited edition), and special online backstory videos. Far Cry 2 was just as impressive, but I'm not a big fan of the FPS genre. Those who DO like shooters should know that Far Cry 2 looks wonderful. You can set fires in shacks or grasslands, and the fire spreads. Water ripples with every action, trees sway in the breeze, and enemies react very intelligently to your presence and actions.    

Then I came back to the hotel room, because I was freaking beat. I missed the two panels I wanted to see because I was stuck in lines, but I'm glad I saw the demo screenings, and I can't turn down autographs by Gabe & Tycho. Tomorrow I hope to play a few more demos and attend a 2nd Q&A session. If you want to meet me, Tim and I should be attempting to play Fallout 3 and/or Starcraft II between the hours of 10 and 11.

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TalkBack / PAX '08: Day One

« on: August 30, 2008, 01:45:51 AM »

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=16615

  Well, here it is: My first PAX. It's hectic, stressful, crowded, and at times a little freaky, but I'm happy to be here. As this is a new experience, I am totally unfamiliar with the layout and general "flow" of the event. Well, there is no flow, and the layout is best described as "random." So many things to complain about, right? Well, here's the thing: I love it. And while today was a day of generally figuring things out, I can assure you that tomorrow will be far more awesome and enjoyable. This post is to explain how PAX works to people who've never been there.    

The Penny Arcade Expo '08 takes place in the (historic?) downtown convention center in Seattle. The convention center is enormous; aside from the four floors with multiple event theaters, there's a large outdoor area where people can eat and hang out. The building was at all times today packed to the brim with people. It's shoulder-to-shoulder in virtually every room. My plane didn't get in until 2 p.m., at which point I took the airport shuttle downtown and wandered around until I found my hotel. Then, it was off to the Expo!    

Attendees get a lanyard for their badge and a "swag bag" which really means "bag filled with promotional material from different companies." There's a demo for the Penny Arcade PC game in there, but my laptop can't run it. Anyway, it was time to fill that swag bag up, so I headed to the expo center, where dozens of companies had booths and (I expected) free swag. As I quickly discovered, the swag was not that great. Posters, promotional cards, a little comic book thing for Fallout 3. I was expecting demos, pens, figurines, etc.! I can't drag a dozen posters back to Anchorage! The booths were not well organized, and hallways between booths were tight. This resulted in a good deal of crowding.    

The expo center housed not just companies showing off their games (more on that in a minute), but also companies trying to sell things. Wizards of the Coast was there, selling $5 and $6 booster packs, as was some Japanese used-game store ("Pink Godzilla?"). There was a lot of Penny Arcade-related stuff, including a booth devoted to Pac-Man merch. I didn't get to play any of the games I wanted to try due to the prohibitively long lines. Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, The Conduit, and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia are all on my to-do list tomorrow.    

The highlight of the night was attending a Q&A session with Gabe & Tycho. They're both very humble, funny, and lighthearted. And for those who don't know, they look NOTHING like their avatars. I went up to the microphone and asked Gabe why he didn't contribute to the commentaries for the book collections, wondering specifically about the evolution of his art style. I also gave him a picture from my own old webcomic that he seemed to like. The Q&A session didn't last too long, but it was very enjoyable.    

After that, I wandered around some more and came back to the hotel. I was beat, and my feet and knees were killing me. Tomorrow I'm going to try and get some game time in both at the expo center and with some of my fellow gamers, perhaps in one of the many handheld lounges in the building, or the classic gaming room. I'd also like to attend some of the speaking panels, although none of them are REAL high on my to-do list. The majority of the talks are aimed at those who want to break into the industry.    

If any of you readers are attending PAX tomorrow, I'll be at the Nintendo booth around noon, trying to play Castlevania and The Conduit. I'd love to play some Space Invaders Extreme, Mario Kart DS (no snaking!), Pokemon DS, or Lumines 2 with you!

3848

General Gaming / Re: Official NWR PAX 2008 Thread

« on: August 29, 2008, 10:46:46 PM »

Jeezus, it's crowded in there. I just came back to my hotel room (it's almost and I'm freaking SPENT. I saw the Q&A, even asked a question (about Gabe's art) and gave him a present.

If any of you guys want to meet me (I'd sure like to meet you), I'll be attempting to play Castlevania and/or The Conduit tomorrow around noon, maybe a little earlier. Sweatpants, friends, and a green messanger bag. And glasses. And short black hair.

3849

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo to Release Metallic Silver DS

« on: August 27, 2008, 06:59:49 PM »

I'll have to replace my DS Lite one of these times. The stylus barely stays in its slot anymore, the screen is scratched up beyond belief (damn you, Phantom Hourglass!), and there's a crack on the hinge's casing. I think I'd like silver. The original silver DS was pretty cool.

3850

TalkBack / Re: Fanboyism, or Cutting off Your Nose to Spite Your Face

« on: August 27, 2008, 04:05:30 PM »

Hey! Who edited my brilliant, Nobel-prize-winning post?

I didn't mean to insult anyone! I'm trying to bring arguments like this (which I see soooo often on these boards) to a sudden close.