Topic: Mario and Sonic at the Winter Games!!

[Stratos]

I never understood why American Football was thusly named. You use your feet in a lot of sports like you do in football. Tackleball makes much more sense.
Most people at my school almost exclusively call Soccer Football or Footy now.

[UltimatePartyBear]

I never understood why American Football was thusly named. You use your feet in a lot of sports like you do in football. Tackleball makes much more sense.
Most people at my school almost exclusively call Soccer Football or Footy now.

Wikipedia has an insightful, well referenced explanation:

While it is widely believed that the word football, or "foot ball", originated in reference to the action of a foot kicking a ball, this may be a false etymology. An alternative explanation has it that the word originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe, which were played on foot. These sports were usually played by peasants, as opposed to the horse-riding sports more often enjoyed by aristocrats. This explanation is supported by the fact that the word football has always implied a wide variety of games played on foot, not just those that revolved around kicking a ball. In some cases, the word has been applied to games which involved carrying a ball and specifically banned kicking.

In addition, the word "soccer" was coined in England in a slang pattern associated with Oxford.

[Ian Sane]

I always assumed American Football is called such because it's derived from Rugby which itself was derived from Soccer/Football.  Canadian Football actually pre-dates American Football which was introduced to Americans by McGill University in Montreal who challenged Harvard to a game.  So blame us Canucks for calling that running/passing/yardage-gaining/very-little-kicking game "football".

[Stratos]

I always assumed American Football is called such because it's derived from Rugby which itself was derived from Soccer/Football.  Canadian Football actually pre-dates American Football which was introduced to Americans by McGill University in Montreal who challenged Harvard to a game.  So blame us Canucks for calling that running/passing/yardage-gaining/very-little-kicking game "football".

I knew it, blame Canada! 
Though don't forget tackling in your running/passing/yardage-gaining/very-little-kicking game "football".

And thanks for the little trivia/history lesson Ultimate P-B and Ian. I found it interesting. Good stuff to know when I talk to my mega sports fan friends.

[NWR_insanolord]

If this game doesn't have curling in it I'm going to start an Animal Crossing/Dead Rising style boycott thread in the funhouse. I'm a huge hockey fan but curling is the best part of the Winter Olympics.

[IceCold]

Okay I can't tell if that's sarcasm or not

[NWR_insanolord]

I might not go through with the boycott, but I do seriously love curling, though I probably only like it more than hockey in the Olympics because I get hockey all the time and I only get Curling once every four years.

[Deguello]

There's already a little curling microgame in Wario Ware: Smooth Moves.   I can't imagine it being that hard to expand into a full-fledged game.

[Mop it up]

If this game doesn't have curling in it I'm going to start an Animal Crossing/Dead Rising style boycott thread in the funhouse.

If this game also doesn't have Birdo in it I will join you in any such protest.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Screenshots

[NWR_pap64]

This game will be of full failure, no matter what. Bet on it.

[Mop it up]

Wait, what? You think it's going to be a failure? I thought you were looking forward to the game?
What little we've seen so far looks pretty good to me.

[Peachylala]

This game will be of full failure, no matter what. Bet on it.

It's reverse thinking.

Full failure really means massive success.

[NWR_pap64]

Wait, what? You think it's going to be a failure? I thought you were looking forward to the game?
What little we've seen so far looks pretty good to me.

I am looking forward to it. I am just doing my angry Wii fanboy thing and declare every Wii game a failure even before they are announced and say it will suck, cause angry Wii fanboys can predict the future like that.

[Stratos]

I figured you meant it would have wonky motion controls and yet still sell a bajillion copies. My friend's folks only really want to play the Summer edition asside from Wii Sports. It is so strange.

[Mop it up]

Here are some hands-on impressions:

http://sonicstadium.org/article/preview/tss-hands-on-mario-sonic-at-the-olympic-winter-games

Here are some choice quotes:

Speaking of Dream Events Sega have been working closely with Nintendo and have been granted much more freedom with them meaning more items will appear from Sonic and Mario’s world to be used in whatever bizarre races they have planned this time.

Sounds good. The first game wasn't fantastical enough.

The Olympic Committee has been keeping a watchful eye over things as well dictating that the game must be referred to as the “Olympic Winter Games” rather than just the “Winter Olympics”

Well that explains the strange word order.

Spectators look a lot livelier and less like cardboard cut-outs and character animation in general has improved to allow more expression in the cast.

Good to hear, the first game was pretty static and kind of stiff.

During certain races you’re given the ability to ‘boost’ by tapping the A button on the Wii Remote. The animation is different for each character but is usually a throwback to the past. Sonic for example does a spindash while Tails lifts a few feet from the air and propels himself forwards with his twin tails. Mario on the other hand has a spinning move as last seen in Mario Galaxy and Luigi appears to shoot himself forwards out of an imaginary cannon as seen in Smash Bros.

Could be interesting.

The outcome of the summer Olympics was kept ambiguous but for the Wii version of the sequel Sega is panning a ‘Festival Mode’. This mode pits the two teams against each other in two separate campaigns to decide an ultimate winner of the Olympic Winter Games.

Awesomesauce. In the first game, it didn't really feel like these were rivals competing with one another because they didn't interact. Does anyone remember the commercials for the first game where Mario and Sonic were always trying to hinder one another? That's what this game should be like.

[Stratos]

I loved those commercials solely for the feelings of classic retro rivalry it stirred within me. I remember those days well.

I hope they do a new wave of those commercials.

[Mop it up]

I loved those commercials solely for the feelings of classic retro rivalry it stirred within me. I remember those days well.
I hope they do a new wave of those commercials.

Such commercials definitely helped sell the first game, but said feelings needs to exist in the game this time around.

[Stratos]

I agree. That was one of the things that killed the game for me. Though it was mostly an inability to figure out the strange controls.

[NWR_pap64]

I think the reason the rivalry between Mario and Sonic was tame in the final game was because the game promoted good sportsmanship and healthy competition between players. Yes, the commercials showed us a funny take on rivalry, but they were just that, commercials.

As for the controls, the problem was that some required precise timing and mastery. In my case I just said screw perfection and just had fun.

[Stratos]

My sister did get the most fun out of the game because she always beat the rest of us. She mastered the controls the most.

[Mop it up]

As for the controls, the problem was that some required precise timing and mastery.

The only one I can think of like that is archery, possibly skeet. The track and field events are ridiculously easy.

By the sound of the impressions I posted, it seems the controls will have more variety this time around.

[NWR_pap64]

As for the controls, the problem was that some required precise timing and mastery.

The only one I can think of like that is archery, possibly skeet. The track and field events are ridiculously easy.

By the sound of the impressions I posted, it seems the controls will have more variety this time around.

I was thinking of the jumping events which required you flick the remote at exactly the right moment and at the right speed.

[Mop it up]

I was thinking of the jumping events which required you flick the remote at exactly the right moment and at the right speed.

Those were definitely tricky the first time I tried them. Now that I've figured out how they work though, they are easy.
Not all of those games were difficult though; the very first time I played the Javelin Throw, I broke the world record.

I'm not sure what the problem is though. Isn't it a good thing that the controls have some skill development?

[NWR_pap64]

I was thinking of the jumping events which required you flick the remote at exactly the right moment and at the right speed.

Those were definitely tricky the first time I tried them. Now that I've figured out how they work though, they are easy.
Not all of those games were difficult though; the very first time I played the Javelin Throw, I broke the world record.

I'm not sure what the problem is though. Isn't it a good thing that the controls have some skill development?

I didn't have a problem with the controls, mind you. I was talking to Stratos who said he was having difficulty with the controls and stating that the only real issue is that some events require skill and timing, which as you said, isn't a problem for some.