Topic: 2009: The year of the doorstop

[Stratos]

Hm, my own ratio is 12-7-4...and my 'to-buy' ratio is 8-4-4 from your lists.

As Mop it up stated, go back to previous years to find games you missed. I routinely re-order my wishlists on IGN and Amazon to start with the earlier released games first and pick some from farther back so I don't miss them before the generation is over.

I own 39 of the 100 highest rated games on Wii according to Metacritic.

[Plugabugz]

You do understand this is a public forum where people, sometimes, discuss new games they buy, correct?

No the warmth of daisy has had me hungover for 6 years. I've been here THAT LONG

Usually there's nothing wrong with that, but the sad thing is that this generation is just weird.

I think i've been a bit weird with it too. I tend to buy some games on their name and developer status (Burnout and Criterion), and others based on price (Uncharted and Littlebigplanet being £20 each).  I'm going to take a more proactive effort in 2010 with my gaming endeavours.

I also, recently, have been taking a like to going into certain things completely blind and reading the bare minimum on things so i have to learn everything from scratch. This experience is what made me like Split/Second and Heavy Rain so much because i barely knew about them before i played them.

I'm excited now. I really have missed quite a bit!!!!

I don't think you can complain about a lack of games if you still haven't picked up a game you want (PUNCH OUT) when it has been out for 6 months already.

There's been a lack of games i actually want. But then if i don't see them, i won't want them. There's been quite a few listed in here (somd of them with no waiting period and have demos) so i can go and enjoy them now.

[Mop it up]

I own the highest and lowest rated game on the Mop-ometer scale, which to me is a much more accurate and valid source than Metacritic.

[noname2200]

For some reason i wasn't interested in NSMBW. I just didn't want the DS game, in style, again.

So that leaves Lostwinds, Boy/Blob, and NyxQuest. I have a silly question, can you get demo's frrom the Nintendo Channel now?

The entire first quarter of Luigi Dude's top list I wouldn't touch, like Kairon. I'll even give the Bit Trips a go (Jonny on RFN said Void is the easiest one to start with?). I think there's quite a few you've all told me about to keep me going. I'll start with the WiiWare ones.

I guess i'm a bit more of a passive gamer in the sense that i want to be informed of games (thats what publishers should do, inform me!) rather than an active one and search out what i want.

Sorry to hear the part about NSMBWii. For what it's worth, artstyle's about all they have in common: I disliked the DS game intensely, as it was one of my biggest gaming letdowns in nearly 20 years, but the Wii game was phenomenal. Plus, it's nearly a different game when you add/subtract players. Try it at a friends, or rent it: I can almost guarantee that you'll find yourself loving it in spite of your initial hesitations.

As to the demoes, Kairon beat me to it. I'd only add that, from the sounds of it, Nintendo's going to cycle their demos, like they do with the DS demos, so download the demos for whichever game(s) you're interested now, even if you're not going to play them until later. The Bit.Trip.Beat demo is a particularly good one, since it's the first third of the game, and will let you know if you want to shell out the $6 for the whole experience. Some folks love the series with a passion, others...not so much. And yeah, Void's the most gentle, while Beat's the most brutal.

As for being a passive gamer, well, you're in the right place! You may also want to check out the Nintendo Channel, as it seems to be made for folks like you. Fair warning though: there's plenty of cheese to go around there.

[NWR_insanolord]

Did Nintendo only release 4 games this year (not counting New Play Control or Wii Fit Plus)? Excitebots, Punch Out, Wii Sports Resort, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, am I missing something else?

[BlackNMild2k1]

Nintendo Release Schedule for the Wii (Japan?)

2006
[WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) - 12/02/06
[WII] Wii Play (Nintendo) - 12/02/06
[WII] The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo) - 12/02/06
[WII] WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Nintendo) - 12/02/06
[WII] Pokemon Battle Revolution (Pokemon Co.) - 12/14/06

2007
[WII] Excite Truck (Nintendo) - 01/18/07
[WII] Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Nintendo) - 02/22/07
[WII] Eyeshield 21: The Gridiron's Strongest (Nintendo) - 03/08/07
[WII] Super Paper Mario (Nintendo) - 04/19/07
[WII] Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Nintendo) - 04/26/07
[WII] Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast (Nintendo) - 06/28/07
[WII] Mario Party 8 (Nintendo) - 07/26/07
[WII] Endless Ocean (Nintendo) - 08/02/07
[WII] Mario Strikers: Charged (Nintendo) - 09/20/07
[WII] Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo) - 11/01/07
[WII] Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) - 11/22/07
[WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 12/01/07

2008
[WII] Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo) - 01/31/08
[WII] Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Nintendo) - 03/06/08
[WII] General Knowledge Training TV (Nintendo) - 03/06/08
[WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 04/10/08
[WII] Link's Crossbow Training (Nintendo) - 05/01/08
[WII] Battalion Wars 2 (Nintendo) - 05/15/08
[WII] Super Mario Stadium: Family Baseball (Nintendo) - 06/19/08
[WII] Wario Land: Shake It! (Nintendo) - 07/24/08
[WII] Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Nintendo) - 07/31/08
[WII] Captain Rainbow (Nintendo) - 08/28/08
[WII] Disaster: Day of Crisis (Nintendo) - 09/25/08
[WII] Wii Music (Nintendo) - 10/16/08
[WII] Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo) - 11/20/08
[WII] New Play Control! Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (Nintendo) - 12/11/08
[WII] New Play Control! Pikmin (Nintendo) - 12/25/08

2009
[WII] New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis (Nintendo) - 01/15/09
[WII] Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories (Nintendo) - 02/05/09
[WII] New Play Control! Metroid Prime (Nintendo) - 02/19/09
[WII] New Play Control! Pikmin 2 (Nintendo) - 03/12/09
[WII] Takt of Magic (Nintendo) - 05/21/09
[WII] New Play Control! Chibi-Robo (Nintendo) - 06/11/09
[WII] New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Nintendo) - 06/11/09
[WII] Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo) - 06/25/09
[WII] Punch-Out!! (Nintendo) - 07/23/09
[WII] Endless Ocean 2: Call of the Sea (Nintendo) - 09/17/09
[WII] Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo) - 10/01/09
[WII] Sin and Punishment 2: Successor to the Sky (Nintendo) - 10/29/09
[WII] Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Nintendo) - 11/05/09
[WII] New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo) - 12/03/09
[WII] PokePark Wii: Picachu's Great Adventure (Pokemon Co.) - 12/05/09
[WII] Minna ga Shuyaku no NHK Kouhaku Quiz Kassen (Nintendo) - 12/07/09

2010
[WII] Zangeki no Reginkleiv (Nintendo) - 02/11/10
[WII] Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] Monado: Beginning of the World (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] Wii Relax (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] Metroid: Other M (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] Span Smasher (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] Cosmic Walker (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] Line Attach Heroes (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo) - 2010?
[WII] Pikmin 3 (Nintendo) - 2010?

[NWR_insanolord]

We didn't get Another Code or Takt of Magic and Endless Ocean 2 hasn't come out yet, so unless there's another game we got that Japan didn't I was right.

[Plugabugz]

For some reason i wasn't interested in NSMBW. I just didn't want the DS game, in style, again.

So that leaves Lostwinds, Boy/Blob, and NyxQuest. I have a silly question, can you get demo's frrom the Nintendo Channel now?

The entire first quarter of Luigi Dude's top list I wouldn't touch, like Kairon. I'll even give the Bit Trips a go (Jonny on RFN said Void is the easiest one to start with?). I think there's quite a few you've all told me about to keep me going. I'll start with the WiiWare ones.

I guess i'm a bit more of a passive gamer in the sense that i want to be informed of games (thats what publishers should do, inform me!) rather than an active one and search out what i want.

Sorry to hear the part about NSMBWii. For what it's worth, artstyle's about all they have in common: I disliked the DS game intensely, as it was one of my biggest gaming letdowns in nearly 20 years, but the Wii game was phenomenal. Plus, it's nearly a different game when you add/subtract players. Try it at a friends, or rent it: I can almost guarantee that you'll find yourself loving it in spite of your initial hesitations.

As to the demoes, Kairon beat me to it. I'd only add that, from the sounds of it, Nintendo's going to cycle their demos, like they do with the DS demos, so download the demos for whichever game(s) you're interested now, even if you're not going to play them until later. The Bit.Trip.Beat demo is a particularly good one, since it's the first third of the game, and will let you know if you want to shell out the $6 for the whole experience. Some folks love the series with a passion, others...not so much. And yeah, Void's the most gentle, while Beat's the most brutal.

As for being a passive gamer, well, you're in the right place! You may also want to check out the Nintendo Channel, as it seems to be made for folks like you. Fair warning though: there's plenty of cheese to go around there.

I did grab all the demo's that were on the Wii Shop Channel (not the Nintendo Channel it seems). The Ninty News segment is DISASTROUS. I tried Bit Trip Beat. I liked it for its simplicity, even though i ended up getting lost in its simplicity and forgetting i'm playing a game. It did seem to go on for quite a while tho. Is it always like that?

Weirdly, it seems to say that the demos are all available ONLY UNTIL JANUARY 30! I grabbed them all just to be sure.

[noname2200]

Ah, you're in the UK. Yeah, Ninty News is...special. I was thinking of Nintendo Week which, while bland, is almost never offensive. Please disregard that portion of my message!

And yeah, Beat only has three stages, but it makes up for that by making them all very long. Too long, in my opinion, especially for such a pick-up-and-play title.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I stuck on the second level of Beat.
And a second player so far hasn't really helped out much.

[TJ Spyke]

2010
[WII] Zangeki no Reginkleiv (Nintendo) - 02/11/10
[WII] Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] Monado: Beginning of the World (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] Wii Relax (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] Metroid: Other M (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] Span Smasher (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] Cosmic Walker (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] Line Attach Heroes (Nintendo) - 2010
[WII] The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo) - 2010?
[WII] Pikmin 3 (Nintendo) - 2010?

It's not really accurate to also include rumored-only games (like Wii Relax), and games with no release date whatsoever (like Zelda, and Pikmin 3)

[broodwars]

I stuck on the second level of Beat.
And a second player so far hasn't really helped out much.

The second song of Beat is actually pretty simple once you get the hang of the up-and-down motion of the latter sections of the song.  It kicked my ass for quite a while, but now I can pass it every single time (something I can't do consistently even on the first song due to a rather nasty late section of that piece).  I will say this, though: if you think that second Beat song is hard, you've seen nothing yet when it comes to the third song.  A second player is mandatory for Growth as far as I'm concerned, if for no other reason than to let both of you take up half the screen during the constellation sections for easy bits (and quicker recovery if you need it).

And yes, all the songs in all the Bit.Trip games are long, about 15 minutes each.  The third game, Void, introduces Checkpoints and lives but with Beat and Core it's all skill and memorization (particularly Core, which makes Beat look like a walk in the park).

[BlackNMild2k1]

Have you played beat with a stereo hooked up and the bass thumping?

That is something I've been wanting to do.

[broodwars]

Have you played beat with a stereo hooked up and the bass thumping?

That is something I've been wanting to do.

Yeah, my new Wii TV (as I've dubbed my gigantic new-old HDMI-less HD TV with its giant speakers) is rather heavy in bass support, which makes Beat sound a little better (though not dramatically better, given that the Beat songs are mostly Treble-oriented).  Core, though, uses Bass a lot more and so sounds pretty awesome on it.  Haven't tried Void on it yet, but given how rave-like the Void songs tend to be they probably get a noticeable improvement as well.

[Kairon]

(particularly Core, which makes Beat look like a walk in the park).

What? Really? How?

I've never played any of the Bit.Trip games, but of all three Core looked the absolute easiest to understand and control. It was the one I intended to start on!

[broodwars]

(particularly Core, which makes Beat look like a walk in the park).

What? Really? How?

I've never played any of the Bit.Trip games, but of all three Core looked the absolute easiest to understand and control. It was the one I intended to start on!

Because Core more than the other two Bit.Trip games relies strongly on your sense of rhythm.  In Beat you guide a paddle to hit a series of essentially notes in a set pattern, and in Void you have free analog stick control of your "character" so you have a bit more freedom in grabbing bits than you usually do (as a result, the music suffers a bit, unfortunately).

With Core, though, you can't just guide your offense to its target: you have to also time your attacks so that they coincide with the rhythm of the song.  That means that when 4 bits fly at different speeds and locations towards you, you have to press the 2 button 4 separate times all on the beat or you "miss" it.  Core also likes to play with the player when it comes to the patterns, often pretending that they're one thing and then revealing they're actually something else just when it's time to start hitting bits.  Peripheral vision's an issue as well, since you can't let yourself fall into the trap of focusing on any specific quadrant of the screen no matter what's going on, or else the game will slip some bits past you.  And when you miss a beat and lose your own internal sense of the song's rhythm, I've found it hard to get it back.  It's much easier to fail in Core than it is in the other two games.  It's still a worthwhile game, but you just need to understand what you're getting into.

On the upside, with Core I've found that when I've really hit the groove with the song and gotten in-synch, my skill at the game improves dramatically.

[Chozo Ghost]

If you can buy one and only one Wii game that came out this year I would recommend Rune Factory Frontier. I don't know about replay value, but you will spend a lot of hours on it in your first go.

[KDR_11k]

It's not out in Europe.

[Kairon]

This "not out in X" stuff is really cramping my style.

I came into this generation thinking it would be the gen when games would be localized from Japan more often and more quickly. With Nintendo, it seems to be the opposite now.

[Stratos]

This "not out in X" stuff is really cramping my style.

I came into this generation thinking it would be the gen when games would be localized from Japan more often and more quickly. With Nintendo, it seems to be the opposite now.

You know, I have renewed hope for some of those games. I was reading an article about the old Earthbound 'Zero' game for NES and in an interview with one of the localization guys he talked about how Nintendo really makes efforts to upgrade and fix games for their release in NA and PAL which cause games to take a longer time to come over. He said they still have that policy so combine that with Nintendo's new 'hush policy' regarding upcoming releases and it makes them still coming a possibility still. It's not even been a year since some of our demands have been released so I'm hoping that they will turn up this coming year.

[Ymeegod]

See what kills me is the lack of GOOD RPG's this year.  Yeah, some games take forever to port--I'm looking at you Arc Rise Fantasia--it's going be nearly a year already comon.

The WII did get a New Tales of game and Monster Hunter 3 but saddly only been released in Japan--hopefully it won't be a year for a port.

[Peachylala]

I was reading an article about the old Earthbound 'Zero' game for NESand in an interview with one of the localization guys he talked abouthow Nintendo really makes efforts to upgrade and fix games for theirrelease in NA and PAL which cause games to take a longer time to comeover.

Disaster was broken? How? I heard word that the game, while not flawless (no game is), was very entertaining. The only thing keeping it away was the poor sales in Japan and Europe.

Fatal Frame 4? That game from what I heard was a broken, buggy mess. Nintendo was editorial support for the game? What the what happened?

[Stratos]

I was reading an article about the old Earthbound 'Zero' game for NESand in an interview with one of the localization guys he talked abouthow Nintendo really makes efforts to upgrade and fix games for theirrelease in NA and PAL which cause games to take a longer time to comeover.

Disaster was broken? How? I heard word that the game, while not flawless (no game is), was very entertaining. The only thing keeping it away was the poor sales in Japan and Europe.

I meant fix and/or upgrade.

Fatal Frame 4? That game from what I heard was a broken, buggy mess. Nintendo was editorial support for the game? What the what happened?

Tecmo being too stubborn is what happened. They refused to follow Nintendo's direction and that is part of the reason Nintendo is refusing to bring it out of Japan.

I'd personally rather have a somewhat 'broken' game like that versus none at all.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Bring on Disaster!  But upgraded for BALANCE BOARD SUPPORT.

[Peachylala]

I'd personally rather have a somewhat 'broken' game like that versus none at all.

FF4 I heard was an outright programming disaster. Tecmo, what the survival horror ****?