Wesbert

Sorry, but they must have been aware of the size limit from the start. Games like Fluidity or Sonic 4 are far more ambitious in terms of visual presentation, and yet they fit, If a developer can't work to given specifications, it's his skill that's lacking. To quote Goethe: "In der Beschraenkung zeigt sich erst der Meister" (Only in restriction is mastery revealed)

I can just about see the typical adolescent video-gamer's reaction.
"Huh! Shoddy Wii-Type graphics. This should be on the XBOX360, with proper HD graphics! And Kinect support!"

Depends on the nature and quality of the extras. If they add enough to warrant the extra cash then it's certainly the preferable option.

This is so weird, it just might work!

I really enjoy Metroid: Other M. Just a little more independence perhaps next time (through a slightly more open world and a story less dominated by some superior's orders). As for those complaining about the emotional storyline: The idea of this game was to explore Samus' past, but it's been dealt with now. The next is likely to be with a different focus, so it should automatically be less emotionally trying for her.

@ smithers: The whole point is those games aren't "very much the same games", they`re entirely different, sharing only the same name. The story, setting, levels, movement sets, powers and extras are entirely different. So it's a bit like saying "I don't believe you bought Sands of Time AND Warrior Within, so you must be a biased liar!". So please stop accusing other people of lying.

The unlockable Prince of Persia is the Mac version (really, not the SNES version; unless it's different for the US version). I guess opeter got it mixed up with the limited HD editions, where a free download code for the 2,5D remake is included.

@ slapshot82: Um... because they're essentially two entirely different games that merely share the same name (neither of wihch is bad)? Why shouldn't we play both if we can and are suitably interested in? After all, HD isn´t always necessarily better... like in this case

I also prefer the Wii version to the PS3 version (finished both). The levels are more varied in design and layout, the combat (weak though it may be) is more tactical, there are more puzzles and once the creation powers are all unlocked they change the experience quite a bit when you master them. I'd also give this game an 8/10.

Ah, that reminds me of those days when various self-proclaimed experts predicted that the N-Gage would completely blow all opposition away and revolutionize the handheld market for years to come...

It's the Guiness site, so it's obvious what happened: The guys who wrote the article were roaringly drunk
Seriously, Guiness obviously asked the people their marketing is aimed at, namely guys who are (almost) old enough to drink beer, but still adolescent enough to be awed by World Records. Amongst that crowd, such a result is possible.
As for the rest of the world... well, I haven't seen a single gamer-poll (even on non-Nintendo sites) that doesn't list either a Nintendo- or a Final-Fantasy game as it's Number 1 game (so it's not just Fanboy-outrage).

@ WaltzElf: Why do you claim there to be no mention of the "RPG side of the game" being "so simple, it's boring" in the review? I think "you can then run around and battle these creatures, which really just consists of running up to them and alternately attacking each other, hoping you continuously deal a lot of damage" conveys that message rather nicely.
As for the story, does anyone seriously expect a downloadable minigame-driven zoo-keeping game to have a grand or even interesting story? In such games, the story is hardly ever more than an extended tutorial, introducing you to the features of the game, and the odd cheesy line about your goals and motivations, so a story that sounds like it "could have been written by a 10-year old" is precisely what I'd expect. It would only have been worth mentioning if the story was not what you'd expect (for example, if it was deep or captivating).
Looking at the screens, you can easily see why displaying more than 10 people at any time would hardly make the game easier to manage.
I thought the review was good and contained all the info I really would need as a potential customer.

Sorry for nitpicking, but I merely wanted to give you a little taste of your own medicine

Sony's position thus far was that the PS3 would be the penultimate console which would make owning any of the others superfluous. So why should they create a tool that makes only sense if you own at least two or even all three of them? To them, that'd be like admitting defeat.
So I think it's either a fake, or Sony heard about some other company trying to develop such a thing (Bigben, Apple, Nokia maybe...) and secured this patent to prevent it from happening.
Although maybe they needn't have bothered. No buttons or analog sticks? Dream on...

@ CasualGenius: Right, so I buy a mobile phone (not a cheap one, either), hook it into a stationary device (or loader) and use a borrowed controller to play illegal roms on the TV? Sounds like a gaming device with a real identity crisis. Seriously, why bother? The PC has tons of emulators already (and TV-link up possibilities), so the only argument in favour of Nokias latest foray into the gaming world would be mobility. But that one is nullified as soon as you're required to carry a seperate controller with you. This is one of those things that only sound good until you think them through.

Ooh, yes, I can't wait to play retro games on a twiddly, miniscule cellphone-keyboard instead of a proper controller. And the option for left-right movement by turning the damn thing? Classy idea...
BTW, it's not just Nintendo that might sue (I wonder if they have Capcom's permission to use Super Ghouls'n'Ghosts)...

Well, there is really only one appropriate response...
YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!
<Stops jumping around and punching the air when neighbours start complaining>
Sorry.
Although I'm not really sure the 'Adventure' part necessarily means it'll be based on or related to the Gameboy Castlevania. They might just have chosen it to make it easier distinguishable from the recent Metroidvania titles.

1) Demon's Crest (SNES)
2) Gargoyle's Quest 2 (NES)
(3) (Goto 1)

And all of those games never released on previous compilations.

Help them get well known? He's acting as though no one had ever heard of Rare before.
And what's so bad about being secretive? I'd rather have a company quietly working away at making great games than a company frequently chattering about their grand projects and then delivering half-baked games that might have been great if the hype had only been true (And yes, I'm including Fable 2 and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts in latter list after having played both).
We need companies which spend their budget on development, not marketing and PR. Wrong direction, Peter.

Somehow Sony gives off the impression of having lost faith in their own creation.
When the PS3 was announced, it was proclaimed the ultimate console.
Then came the announcement of the Sixaxis, a clear first attempt to draw attention away from the Wii. Odd, considering the PS3 was so much more advanced, why imitate the competition?
Later on they axed BC, so that PS3 owner would buy more PS3 games, rather than PS2 ones. Which makes little sense: If the PS3 games are so much more powerful and impressive than the PS2 games, why should they have difficulty selling them?
Then they pulled that stunt with the Ghostbusters games (in Europe, at least). If the PS3 is so much better than the rest, surely their version of the game would reign supreme, and have no difficulty outselling it's competition.
And now they "demote" the PS3 to a mere Wii-upgrade (the Wii 1.5?), not long after their second attempt to mimic their rival.
And that's the problem for me: Whenever I get around to the idea of obtaining a PS3 for myself, Sony does something silly to deter me. The PS3 certainly has potential to be a great console, but how is any developer supposed to take it seriously and really use it's power when not even it's own creators are convinced of it's abilities (or such is the impression they convey)?
Instead of stupid marketing stunts and unqualified comments (N64 to PS2? You've got to be kidding me!), they should focus on making good games to convince their potential buyers. But at the moment, it sulks in the the shadow of the XBOX360 - a system so faulty you're not allowed to call yourself a proper owner if you didn't have at least one RROD (those weeks where the XBOX360 outsold the PS3 in Japan were truly depressing to a former PS2-owner/XBOX-hater like me), not to mention the Wii. I really hope Sony finally gets a grip on itself, because that's the day I will finally buy a PS3. Which probably means, I will remain without one for quite some while...

However, when (if?) I finally get one, I won't consider it an "upgrade". I won't get rid of my Wii (I didn't when I got my XBOX360, either), and I will continue playing it. With great pleasure, I might add.

@ BlueFlameBat: During an interview about his experience with WiiMotion+, a developer (of EA, I think; it was from one of the tennis games released with WiiMotion+) mentioned that it was almost too precise for his liking, so he had to tone it down a little. So, what use would it be if Sony's wand was even more precise/accurate? Besides, the wand was a prototype only presented at a demo, not playable, so the question should be: Can Sony's new wand match WiiMotion+, if it (EDIT: the wand) ever comes out?

The biggest difference is the absence of a nunchuck-equivalent. How are you supposed to move around with Project Natal or Sony's Magic Wand? Standing or sitting around waving your arms is fine for mini-game collections and the odd sports title, but for strategy or shooting-gallery games you need a precise pointer (which Microsoft's gimmick does not supply, and while you could achieve that with Sony's idea, it would be technological overkill), and for everything else (1st and 3rd person shooters, etc.) you need a control stick to move around.
Of course, you COULD move around using Project Natal, if you don't mind recreating the end of Monty Python's mountaineer sketch

@ thewiirocks: Yes, I did mean from a networking perspective (As you might have noticed, I have a slight problem of getting straight to the point). As for Miyamoto, remember he had to give a quick answer to a reporter not all that well versed in these things (who probably doesn't speak Japanese). It's understandable the point is not all that well made.

@ thewiirocks: Not quite, because you forget a lot of the items are interactive (fireballs bounce, blocks break...). Perhaps a better example for the problem I wanted to hint at would be the see-saw. Two characters stand at either end, an equilibrium. If both jump, the reaction can differ quite a lot depending on who jumped first, and even if it is just by a millisecond. Now, unless there's a perfect synchronization between all four systems (or the two systems of the two players standing on the see-saw at least), there will be a discrepancy between what happens on one system and what happens on the other. The see-saw tilts one way on one system, and the other way on the other. As Starwolf_UK already hinted at, such things don't matter too much in a racing game. The general position and acceleration of the cars and fired objects is enough. The same applies to most FPS (look closely in multiplayer matches; you'd be surprised how much characters jitter around in some of them). But it doesn't matter with those games whether the positions are off by a pixel or two (except for closely zoomed in headshots, but any imperfection is more easily attributed to human failure). In a game requiring pixel-perfect jumping and precise timing, however, this is a game-breaker. Even the slightest lag could mean you land in a bottomless pit. And since there is no instantaneous information transfer, slight lag is impossible to avoid. That's why most Multiplayer-FPS have so little truly interactive arenas.
Calculating things is easy. Synchronizing across larger distances across up to four systems not so much any more.

The game is supposed to have around 80 levels. It is safe to assume that the later levels will feature significantly more enemies and interactive elements than the ones shown during the small video or demo. Imagine two Hammer Bros throwing out a near-continuous streams of hammers, jumping on rows of destructible blocks, with Bullet Bills flying in from the side and a lot of collectable coins hovering nearby. That's a lot to keep track of, and that's not including the four hero characters, several of which might be pestering the enemies with fire balls. Now considering it's vital for the game to register who collects which single coin first (which is the whole idea of the multiplayer game), with four consoles registering their own results and possible lag-time... I can sort of understand why they decided to keep it offline.

Looks a bit like a capture-the-flag style of game with racers (or something similar to the multiplayer-battle mode of a kart-racer), rather than a normal racing game. Could be interesting.

Yeah, sure... Everyone knows Nintendo loves to deny rumors, even it they turn out to be true. It's just to throw the competition off the scent.

Actually, the horrible Engrish is partially due to the fact that the original site uses horrible German, replete with typos and made-up words.

EDIT: I have attempted a liberal, not literal translation:

"Excitebots: Trick Racing: So far no European release planned for the Wii-racer

Nintendo confirmed that it had no plans so far to publish the fun Wii-racer in Europe.

Fans of big-time carefree tree-crashing [It’s the closest I could get to this accumulation of nonsensical words] beware: The successor to the Wii-hit Excite Truck might never make it onto our shelves. Nintendo confirmed to us that the Racer has no release date as of yet and a release in Germany is still uncertain. Finally they make a brilliant high-score-hunting game for the waggleconsole, and then this! Keep your fingers crossed – perhaps things might yet change! Whoever doesn’t own the brilliant predecessor yet can experience the quality of this Wii-gem for himself and buy Excite Truck for the sensational price of 11,40 Euro at amazon.de. We can guarantee that the US-Version [I take it they mean Excitebots] delivers a game experience just as extraordinary. As you may see for yourself in our great slide-show. Please, Nintendo, show your german fans some love!"

Sorry for the bad quality, but I have a heaqache (specially after trying to translate or even understand the meaning of the term "gepflegter Super-Baumfrevel").

I think it was June.

But with this update we can consider it official: Last week wasn't just a May 1st special, alternating weeks really seem to be a thing of the past now.

It makes perfect sense from Sony's perspective to use all their money and influence to gain an edge over it's rivals, even if it might seem a little unfair.
That's called business sense.
It makes perfect sense from my (the customer's) perspective to not support or reward such practices by buying the PSP, PS2 or even PS3 versions but rather wait until the versions I had originally planned to pick up arrive.
That's called common sense.

Secretly, I'm quite glad that Ghostbusters has slipped, since June was looking a little cramped with The Conduit and Another Code R and Indiana Jones anyway

I wouldn't read too much into those figures. Take House of the Dead: Overkill, for example. Everyone thought it bombed, but on April 7th, the VP of Sega of America claimed that the sales number met their expectations (and he was positive about Madworld's performance then as well). Just like with GTA:CW, where the analyst who first talked of those sales numbers was also said to be confident about future performance of the title (according to Gamespot). The key is that Nintendo buyers seem to have a more relaxed attitude towards buying video games. They don't rush to buy those titles the second they're released, but buy them later on. That means there's no huge sales spike immediately after the release, but not huge drop afterwards either. And you know what they say about "slow and steady"

I wonder if this reduction to increase stability is in some way related to the crash at the multiplayer demo... Well, as long as the game remains stable afterwards, I can live with both the delay and the slight downsizing.

Bounty Hunter mode sounds nice (hunt for targets, get penalized for shooting wrong guys), although I'd like to know whether all players get the same targets, or whether each player gets a specific target, possibly in secret. In latter case, that could lead to some marvellously paranoid encounters

And it's good to have a game I can use my Wii Speak for!

So, they're basically saying they're not really making art because they're only making games to entertain, without aiming at art? Well, that is true art, in my opinion. Consider the (often overrated) Mona Lisa. Leonardo DaVinci didn't set out thinking "Now I wanna make art, so let's look for a woman without eyebrows and a look of slight constipation". No, he was commissioned to do a portrait, and it became art through the way he painted it. And why did he do it? For money. Flamish landscape artists wanted to change the way we look at nature, not create "art". As for entertaining, just look at Giuseppe Arcimboldo's paintings, and tell me they're not meant to be entertaining in the first place. Or Breughel's Peasant Wedding. Art happens through the skill of the artist, not his intention. And the primary focus on gameplay? Austrian Arts & Crafts - Designer Adolf Loos said "Something that isn't functional can't be beautiful", and his designs and philosophy are considered art, too. So, a game that is functional, entertaining and changes the way we percieve things is art. (That strange aloofness of art nowadays is just a fad, and will pass)

Just one game? Pity. But it's odd, since there was no XBLA game this week either. Possibly it's because January is traditionally the month with most bills to pay, so they don't want to "overstretch" our budgets, specially after christmas. Perhaps a good time to browse the catalogue for anything I've missed...

Decode looks interesting. Judging from the pics, you have the ability to flip numbers to move them around, so 2 becomes 5, 9 becomes 6 and such (making 1 and 8 very mobile). Could be deeper than it initially seems.

@ Betagam7: I wasn't giving a rundown of the Xbox360, nor was I promoting anything. I was merely stating different viewpoints.
Other alternate viewpoints:
There are very few actual ARCADE conversions (I believe less than ten). As for other conversions, I was annoyed by the omission of the movies in Symphony of the Night (I love it when Alucard just starts talking about going to the other castle, of which there is absolutely no indication now), and the Duke Nukem 3D port was lackluster. Banjo Kazooie was decent, but frankly didn't stand the test as time nearly as well as I had remembered.
The storage problem is present on Xbox360 as well, since all the files are bigger (I frequently have to erase old content, since I can't just relocate it to a SD card; and the Xbox360 memory units are a genuine joke).
I don't really care about the PAL speed-drop, and I am pretty sure most people wouldn't even be aware of it if they hadn't been told.

Again: If there are games you'd enjoy on Xbox360, then go ahead and buy it. But don't let yourselves get talked into it merely out of frustration. And now I'm going back to World of Goo..

EDIT: @ Manicfatty: Funny, it's the other way around with me, I prefer WiiWare to XboxLiveArcade. It's a matter of taste and opinion. And if you enjoy the games for the 360, then you have bought it for the RIGHT reasons. That was what I was hinting at.

I find it interesting when people use one-VC-weeks as an argument to buy an Xbox360. Just a few facts: XboxLiveArcade is the equivalent of WiiWare, not VC, and usually they get one game a week - fewer therefore than the Wii. Banjo Kazooie is a rare (pun intended) exception. The closest approximation to VC would be the Xbox Originals, but those get updated about once every two months, with two or so games - a lot fewer than Wii, again (and as a trade-off for those, Microsoft seems to have stopped working on their leaky backwards-compability list). In other words Xbox360 actually gets fewer new games (and there are a lot of duds there as well).
Now, I don't wish to dissuade you from buying an Xbox360 or a PS3, but please do it for the RIGHT reasons. Banjo Kazooie alone isn't worth it

@ Manicfatty: It's not just about the promotion of the VC games, it's also about the promotion of the VC service itself. If they released all the 'hot' games now, it would leave the less interesting ones for later, i.e. after christmas. Now imagine you got your Wii for christmas, hooked it up to the internet and browsed the VC-library. You'd go "Wow, all those great games! I can't wait for the next update!" And then the next update would reveal.... Enduro Racer (or something similar). What a letdown, and you'd conclude the VC was already past it's prime! If, however, they released the dull games now and the hot games afterwards, any VC-newbie would find the next update stock full of gorgeous classics (or whatever), then they'd be thrilled and even more inclined to buy more point cards.
Leaving only the VC veterans slightly annoyed, but as you said yourself: Those games will sell anyway. Including after christmas!

As for discounts: There's another school of thought about them, namely that they're unfair towards those who paid the initial, full prize. Is it fair to rip off loyal and devoted fans like that? (That argument can be heard frequently)

My point is, this is A marketing strategy. Not the only one, not necessarily the best one, but it's the one they apparently chose (And remember, there is no single 'correct' marketing strategy).
Provided, of course, I'm right. Which I might not be.

There is a possible explanation for these lackluster VC weeks: christmas. Right now is the pre-christmas shopping spree, so people are supposed to spend their money on full prized games and consoles. VC-games don't make good presents. Cards with points do, but they only come into play after they have been received, e.g. after christmas. And sales figures show that a lot of people will be getting a Wii for christmas. Now consider from a marketing point of view: If you release good games now, they will be lost (to the new Wii-owners) in the large catalogue of other games already out now, overshadowed by games like Ocarina of Time, Super Mario RPG, etc. Therefore, the best way to impress all those new Wii owners (and thus potential VC customers) is to release good games AFTER christmas. So I wouldn't look to the next update for great games, rather the one after it.
Just a theory, but one that doesn't require exaggerated "Nintendo hates us" or "Nintendo wants do abandon VC" conspiracy theories.

I'm not so sure about the "if you're mature enough" comment about boogerman. After all, the interest in boogers and farts usually decreases with maturity

While a port of The Incredible Machine is unlikely, due to the age, I think an Incredible Machine-like game for the Wii is actually quite likely, since there are already two such games available for the DS (Crazy Machines and Mechanical Master). And this whole puzzle and experiment feel would fit the Wii like a glove. (And a few new parts can do wonders for the gameplay).

About this whole science vs. religion issue: Scientists try to create a model of the universe that works by itself, according to logical laws, without outside assistance (to put it bluntly, without a god who frequently needs to wind it up or tinker with it). That does not disprove god, nor do they wish to do so (you could just as easily say that god created the universe to work independently, without his continued maintenance). Unfortunately, the church(es) take offense at this, because they claim it's reducing the influence, and thus the power of god, although it is mainly reducing their own influence (if praying doesn't result in celestial interference, why bother with donations?). Therefore, the clash is mainly science vs. church (the organisation), not science vs. religion (the belief system). This is my personal opinion and observation, and it is not intended as an insult, merely food for tought.
But before this board gets even more theological, we should consider why this game features this Christian theme in the first place. Because I think that they merely wanted to create a game with a moving maze, and when tinkering with the level designs, they realized the most interesting shape to put at the "center" would be a cross-shaped one, because it forces the players sidewards and acts as a good divider. And then, when they saw this prominent shape, they thought "Hey, what with the cross and such, why not give it a Christian theme? Makes it more exotic (the game originates from Japan, after all)". So I don't think we should try too hard to find any sort of religious symbolism in it, and merely enjoy this rather interesting little gem (and it would also make it easier to explain why it features a cute little dragon as a hero character, even though St. George clearly showed how the Christians thought about dragons).
Of course, as I so frequently point out, I might be dead wrong

Hah! And to think there are people out there who still believe video games and art don't mix!

It's funny, because a lot of Europeans think Halloween is a purely American holiday, imported solely for marketing reasons. So the Europeans, many of which don't actually 'celebrate' this holiday, get a themed update, while the Americans, who do, don't.
So it's trick (for the US) and treat (for the EU).
Still, Happy Halloween to all Americans, and remember there's always next Monday!

I admit, I was also a little... well, "surprised" when I saw the character designs for this game. But it is a different take on the series, so it's actually a good idea to combine it with a new look, and by now I'm quite used to it (Then again, I remember fans bashing Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin for it's "manga-style", even though most people will hardly have noticed...).
Gameplay-wise, I expect I will personally label Judgment as a "guilty pleasure"; a game with undeniable flaws which I will enjoy nevertheless. And that is good enough for me.
After all, there is a quite steady supply of excellent DS Castleroids, so Castlevania fans actually have little reason to complain (Which won't stop them from doing so, repeatedly and emphatically).

@ Auntman
That depends on one's point of view. Harder difficulty levels are frequently part of normal games (and mostly affect damage and enemy placement, so they mainly punish mistakes without altering your playing style), alternate characters not that often (and both charge and slide do change your style somewhat).
But we should consider two additional factors:
1) The difference in cost is 1-2 Euros/Dollars, so too much nitpicking is hardly a justified waste of our time.
2) I might be dead wrong. For all we know, the difference is connected to the salaries of the people required to make those add-ons (the higher difficulty setting doesn't require additional sprites, while Protoman needs a lot of them, plus playtesting in each stage; whereas Fake Man's stage might be composed of bits of other stages, him being a faker). Or they're reacting to the critisizm of some who claimed the stage should have been in the game in the first place, not DLC. Or maybe they just threw dice...

@ SuperMario64
Your summary makes it sound far more logical than mine. As you might have noticed, short and to-the-point summaries aren't really my strength...

@ SuperMario64
Depends on the stage. For all we know, it consists of one empty room, and when you enter the boss room Fake Man laughs and gloats "Sorry, Mega Man, our boss is in another castle" and vanishes in a poof of smoke. And the weapon is a flag that comes out of your blaster saying "Bang". He IS called Fake Man, after all.

Seriously though, I think the logic behind the pricing is a little different. A new stage and boss are basically additional parts of the same game, whereas a new hero character enables you to replay all the old stages with slightly altered gameplay mechanics, turning it, in a way, into a new game (not an entirely new game, but therefore the price is lower). Maybe it doesn't make too much sense, but if it means new stages cost less, I'm all for it.

Whenever I hear Austrians trying to speak English, I get this overwhelming urge to apologize to the rest of the world...

Releasing good games without prior warning? Not such a bad idea at all, because now people will be wondering what the next update might bring, and whether it might also contain a hitherto unkown hidden gem (whereas overhyped games feel old the day they're released, since one has already seen everything). Besides, how should this game have been advertised? It's defined by it's gameplay, not it's graphics. Screenshots and videos alone hardly do it justice, and euphoric press-releases more often than not cause sinister forebodings.
Nintendo apparently thought this game would speak for itself. And it does.

Art Style: ORBIENT sounds suspiciously like a remake of the GBA game "bit generations: Orbital". I guess that means the other two announced Art Style games are bit generations - titles as well. If so, you can look forward to them - Orbital was simple, elegant and surprisingly addictive (although whether they work on Wii remains to be seen).
Honestly, I envy you.

EDIT: Sorry, jesao, didn't see your post up there.