@KnucklesSonic8 - No, I did say that the chocobo thingy should be available at the beginning of R2. The rest of the espers are only if you beat the game.
Hmm... maybe you get the chocobo if you have beaten R1 already? Dunno. Let me know if you figure out how to get it. (Just so I can get it straight in my head. Espers are not very useful IMHO.)
There is no IR support as far as I've been able to tell. Control is the same.
Control consists of an on-screen cursor that moves 1/2 of a grid space with each tap of the dpad. Pressing the controller button brings up a menu to either build a unit or upgrade an existing unit. Units cannot be sold.
Once set in motion, the player has little to no control over the units. Pretty much standard tower defense where they attack whatever the heck they want to attack.
The standard units are the same as R1 with little more than a sprite swap. These units consist of Fencers (soldiers with swords), Black Mages (throw magic fireballs), Hunters (archers), Berserker (soldiers who clobber more than one foe at a time; i.e. "Spash" damage), Time Mages (basically an ice or "slow" spell), Thieves (you get more money for kills), and Dragoons (magic teleporting dudes who do lots'o'damage).
Additional units added to R2 include Tinkerers (stop enemies instead of just slowing them) and Musketeers (they fire "magic" bullets).
Special "crystals" have been added for strategy purposes. Red crystals can be placed to increase attack power of nearby units, yellow increase rate of fire, and blue increases range.
There are "espers" you can summon to perform some sort of bomb attack on the entire board. These cost life crystals and are thus a last resort. (Not very useful in the long run.) R1 only gives you espers after you beat the game. (Go figure.) R2 starts you off with those Chocobocobco-something chicken thingies that can do damage to all enemies on the screen. Other espers still require beating the game.
Hope that fills in the gaps! And just go download R2. You'll be happy enough with it.
Great work on getting the review out so fast! I agree that this is a really fun puzzle game. It's not going to be the next Tetris franchise, but I imagine it will see its share of clones.
@VGP - I don't think the point is realism. The idea is to demonstrate that driving takes a great deal of concentration. Adding distractions to an intense video game demonstrates to the students the problem with using such distractions in a real vehicle.
The analog for when we were kids was POLE POSITION. Remember swerving around cars at breakneck speeds, occasionally running into a billboard and exploding in a shower of car parts? Yeah, that was awesome.
(The other big game was San Francisco Rush. Nothing quite like driving under a truck, hitting the hidden ramp, and jumping a skyscraper.)
Thankfully, video game driving doesn't really translate to the real world. Despite crazy driving habits in video games, controlling a moving ton of metal was a slightly more daunting experience the first few times out. I don't know what anyone else remembers, but I recall not wanting to shift into third gear. Sort of a "this is fast enough for the moment".
Eventually you get the hang of the beastie and are whipping it into parking spaces backwards before you know it. Try THAT in Mario Kart.
If you want a challenging experience, go for R2. You won't miss much from R1.
I've gotten much farther on R2. I now have crystals that extend range and increase fire rate. The latter feels much more effective and satisfying. I've gotten a few units that are different from R1, but as of yet they have not proven themselves very effective. Enemies come hard and fast with ridiculous amounts of health. Knowing how to use the thief greatly tempers this as you can purchase more than enough fighters to fend off any attack.
The greatest strategy in R2 is knowing the proper choke point. If you choke the enemies on their way through a single-path pass, you can nail them all at once with as much firepower as you can bring to bear. It actually gets a bit crazy as you have to lay off the firepower if you want your thieves to do their jobs.
Again, both are just fine. But if you're looking for challenge, just skip to R2.
R1: Fairly easy, with a few very challenging spots. Good for beginners OR someone looking for a casual, relaxed experience.
R2: Difficulty ramps up quickly, but it's kind of cheap. The difficulty primarily comes from the two-front levels you're forced to fight, thus straining your resources. Good if you're a hardcore Tower Defender, but possibly frustrating if you're looking for a more relaxing experience.
I don't think you can go wrong with either one. As I said above, they're basically the same game. Even the overworld is exactly the same. I have not yet beat R2, so I can't comment on all of the extra features. So far I've used the energizer crystal. As I said, it doesn't add much to the game, IMHO.
R2 is the same bleeping game as R1. Effectively the same maps, same classes, same progression, same damn game. The sprites have been swapped out for the characters and the maps have forks in the road so that the creeps come from both directions. The latter part serves to make the game more challenging.
There are a few new features in the form of items like power crystals to boost the effectiveness of nearby characters. However, these are passive and don't add much to gameplay.
Verdit: Don't buy it unless you're a hardcore Tower Defense fan. Go here instead.
Well, the table tennis in WiiPlay WAS inferior. It was simply a "move the paddle" type of affair. One would hope that a Motion+ version would be superior.
As for the Golf game, I have a feeling that it stems from development Nintendo did to help out the latest version of Tiger Woods with Motion+ support. Like so many of their minigame compilations, they took what they already had available and packaged it into a product.
KDR_11k hit it on the head. I'll reserve judgment until the title is released, but the amateur PovRay rendering of the chopper isn't giving me confidence.
(As I recall, these guys previously did Sodoku WiiWare and the Labyrinth WiiWare game.)
It was a bad name anyway. Besides being completely non-descript, it's been used before. I always think of "Bang! Gunship Elite" whenever I hear the name.
Yay! Not only did we get Majora's Mask, but we also got Crystal Defenders! I've been playing through R1. While it's a bit disappointing that Crystal Defenders was split, I honestly feel like you get enough of a game for your money. The first one gets really hard after a while, only to drop in difficulty once you figure out the thieves. I'm hoping that R2 will shake things up again and freshen up the gameplay even more.
As for DSiWare... hmm... well, we're one week closer to some real games. (pause) I think.
1. Why does the lady in the picture have a chicken on her shoulder? 2. When did this become a porn site rather than a news site? 3. If you guys keep this up, many company filters will start blocking your website.
There are several good games for the Wii that started off slow, then picked up after that. Boom Blox comes to mind as the quintessential example. Everyone thought it was a failure for the first month or two, then BAM. Sales picked up radically.
The pattern that has been developing is that the Wii's audience purchases games on their own schedule and not the release schedule. This is a bit of a throwback to the NES days, and it probably seems counter-intuitive to the marketeers. But that's just the way it's working.
Yay for 480p support! I would have preferred if they would extend the edges (it's a side-scroller), but I'll take what I can get. Merely paying attention to the system setting is a good start.
Ah, GoldenEye. What a great game! Especially in my household of 5 children. (Plenty of multiplayer. ) There was nothing better than being... The Man With the Golden Gun
@Dazza - You just had to mess with the formating, didn't you?
If you're going to make it more interesting looking, at least do it right with CSS! Using an image isn't very accessible. Especially for people with alternative browsers on low-memory platforms. (Hint, hint)
Wow, some old games seem to be making some strong comebacks. Defend Your Castle just keeps climbing, Wild West Guns is holding its own, and MM9 is back on the charts!
I wonder if this indicates a sudden influx of new WiiWare users?
Anyone remember back when Activision broke the back the of the "Star Trek games suck!" curse? With games like Armada, Bridge Commander, and Elite Force, Star Trek appeared to have a bright future in video games.
Then Activision sued.
Activision was so disgusted with the progress made on the Trek franchise by Berman & Co. that they sued Paramount for devaluing the brand! (Rightly so, I must add.) And that right there was the end of the greatest string of Star Trek games ever.
Thanks a lot Paramount. Everyone told you that guy was an idiot. But it only took you three series, a lawsuit, total loss of profits, and a completely frakked up franchise to make you realize it, eh?
Paramount is obviously leaching from the bottom of the barrel to even consider whoring out their core franchise like this. Alas, I fear the Star Trek I knew is dead and buried. The new movie may be a great thrill ride, but a vapid, storyless thrill ride is not Star Trek.
Thanks for the great review Spencer! Maybe I'll pick this up for $5 used at some point and use some white-out out on the Star Trek title. It should make the game more enjoyable.
@MarkyVigoroth - The Intellivision had a keypad that was critical for most games. The DSi's touch screen is a better fit for that keypad than the Wii. (You can use the touchscreen to emulate the keypad, and the top screen to play.)
Also, VC never goes below $5 a game. But DSiWare does...
@Sean - Emulated Intellivision never feels quite right. (It's the keypad/disc controller that messes everything up.) If you want a good first experience, you need to use a real system. Of course, the Inty isn't really an action system. It's games are more thoughtful, so that's something to keep in mind.
@SmaMan - Yay! Another Inty user! Do you have Dreadnaught? I had to pay an arm and a leg to get it, but it's quite possibly the best game on the system; bar none.
Nooo! Khaaaaaaan! (starts singing)"And so I play my.... Intelli-viiiision."(/singing)
Despite this setback, it would be incredible if the games were released via a DSi Virtual Console. At 200 points a game, requiring a keypad, and with a lower resolution than the DSi's screen, these games would be much better suited to the DSi console than the Wii. Let's hope this goes through in the future. Having games like Shark Shark, Astrosmash, Thin Ice, BurgerTime, Locomotion, Utopia, etc. to take on the go would be awesome!
This isn't "casual" this is "kids". If you're going to start lumping stuff like this into casual, you might as well complain about the XBox 360 and its support for Barbie Horse Adventures.
Now it may be insanely lame, but so is much of the kid-targeted shovelware ported to all three systems. My son has gotten into the Bakugan toys and is super-excited about an upcoming video game based on the concept. I don't have the heart to tell him that it will probably be the same sort of cheap cash-in that third party companies always create for game systems.
(As an aside, anyone remember back when Capcom rocked the house with their licensed Disney properties? We need to go back to that mentality. That was some really great stuff.)
@warioswoods - I think you just nailed it with your description. "Childlike wonder" is exactly what games are missing today. That euphoric feeling of your childhood imagination leaping out into the screen in front of you. Truly a magical experience.
@Adam - Are you saying I'm long-winded? Huh huh huh?!? pause
No arguments here. And the SNES did have some pretty engaging titles back in the day. Not quite as deep as the PC gameplay, but still just as engaging. I can't count how many hours my siblings and I lost to Street Fighter II...
@Corbie - I find that a bit surprising. The first party offerings have actually been a slight disappointment to me. It's not that I don't like Mario Kart or Zelda. I just feel like we've been here before. The Wii versions have great new controls, but they don't really move their series forward by much. (Though I will argue that Mario Galaxy is the exception that proves the rule. )
Personally, I've found far more entertainment in third party offerings. Geometry Wars: Galaxies, Boom Blox, Guitar Hero, Red Steel, Zack & Wiki, Pinball Hall of Fame, Ghost Squad, Defend Your Castle, Toki Tori, Onslaught, etc. Just to name a few.
Hardcore - You guys keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. In fact, the Wii is full of "hardcore" games like shmups and other insanely difficult challenges.
What it doesn't have is games that target the "core gamer" audience. You know, first person shooters, Grand Theft Auto, 3D beat-em ups, etc. To which I have to say--!!! I have mixed feelings on.
I don't want to see a GTA on the Wii. I don't really need a Gears of War. I don't need a Half Life 2. (That game was so insanely boring. I felt like I was playing it just because I paid for it. Beyond that, it was more work than fun. The story didn't even pay off.)
However, I do think the Wii is generically a good platform for FPSes. (Onslaught, Conduit, Red Steel, Metroid Prime) I do think the Wii is an excellent platform for driving games. (Excite Truck, Mario Kart, Excite Bugs). I do think the Wii can do adventure quite well. (Zelda) So there is room for games that appeal to the core gamer audience.
But doesn't that create a bit of a dichotomy? I mean what is so different between what's on the 360/PS3 and what's on the Wii? Well, the answer is: Those other two systems take themselves too seriously.
Back in what I think of as the golden age of PC gaming (~92-96), games were wide and varied. No idea was too wacky or outlandish. I'd bring home a copy of PC Gamer and read about the games where I got to shoot space-farring furballs, solve tongue-in-cheek mysteries, learn to build cities, become a dystopian taxi driver, fire insane amounts of ammo from a 3-story tall mech, learn the identity of who is beneath my mutant facade, outsmart insane computers, take to the skies for the freedom of true flight, get transported to other worlds at warp speed, fly hovercraft through cliffs at breakneck speeds, hunt down replicants while questioning my own identity, etc., etc., etc.
The games of the past were so inventive and engaging that the signal to noise ratio was nothing short of astounding. You really could travel to new worlds and pique the imagination. Yet it worked because there was an element of unrealism the entire time. The adventures were engaging, but surreal enough to where they were an escape from the real world.
Modern gaming doesn't do that for me. It evolved from that history, but it lost the magic along the way. Too focused on realism and simulation at the expense of engaging the user in new and interesting ways. Is there any wonder that the gaming market appears to have peaked just prior to Nintendo's coupe de grace?
For right now, Nintendo is offering the next best thing to deeply engaging gameplay. They're offering arcade fun that any age or personality can find enjoyable and interactive. They are a bit more than skin deep, and they are enjoyable. But they don't hold you in like the PC games of yore did.
If someone can recapture the magic of what made early PC gaming so spectacular, they'd really have something. A real solution to the ever shrinking issue of the core audience balanced against the need to upgrade the casual audience.
I'm really excited, but cautiously so. I'm concerned that the 3D art style will detract from the game. It's too bad they couldn't redo the sprites in higher resolutions rather than going 3D. (ala Street Fighter II remix) But I'll certainly be first in line to give this a try!
(Oh, and there had better be four player! That's the best part. )
@pHaT-aNt_ - I don't know if it will help or not, but one of the issues I've seen with Excite Truck is that many people use the controls incorrectly. They tend to try and rotate the remote laterally as if the horn was on the front of the remote. Instead, you need to rotate as if the horn is on the side of the remote, using push/pull motions. The game gets instantly more responsive when people realize the mistake. (For the record, I also had that problem at first.)
@LinktotheFuture - Are you using the new photo channel which plays AACs? These files are incompatible with Excite Truck which only plays MP3s. If that's not the issue, then there are two things I can think of: 1) SDHC cards (>2GB) do not appear to be supported by Excite Truck. 2) The program creating the MP3 container isn't doing it quite right and the files need to be re-encoded. (I had this issue with some AACs on the DSi.) The info in this thread might help.
@Corbie - Excellent review as usual. I expected this game to be good. I'm happy to head that Nintendo and Monster didn't disappoint!
You're far too hard on analog control sticks. They do provide real and superior control for 3D games. For movement, they allow you to move at a wide variety of angles rather than being stuck to the 8 standard directions. They also allow for precision movement, something that is important in most First Person Shooters.
Analog sticks also provide an aiming mechanism. While hardly as nice as a mouse or Wii Remote, the stick allows precision control of the cursor and instant response. Something which isn't available with an 8-way dpad. (Anyone remember moving the cursor across the screen Sim City?)
The DPad has been de-emphasized not to push the analog stick, but because of a change in market priorities. The last two generations were all about pushing 3D games and content. No one felt there was value in supporting 2D anymore. Since the analog controller is a superior control for 3D work, it should come as no surprise that more emphasis was placed on it. Especially when the analog stick can do everything a dpad does; regardless of the circumstances where a dpad is superior.
On the issue of waggle, my sense is that the industry was deeply shocked by the unexpected introduction of the Wii platform. They had put a ton of time and money into their existing lines of business and simply weren't prepared for the sudden shift in mindset. Some attempted to get on board right away and use the motion controls to their fullest potential (with varying degrees of success), but other companies were left holding properties that didn't really fit the platform.
Fortunately, Nintendo provided a way out. When Nintendo ported Zelda, they added a "sword swipe" motion for using the sword. Of course, this was such a simple motion that other game makers went, "Hey, we can do that for our games too. Just use a waggle instead of a button or a true motion!" And thus the original intent of motion controls was lost and we ended up with the same old ports as always. (Plus a ton of shovelware from the PS2 that Nintendo didn't used to license.)
Wow, I didn't realize this wasn't out in Europe yet. Let me just say, you guys are in for a treat. These are as close to the real pinball tables as you can get without actually going to the arcade! The controls feel natural, the table physics are spot on, and even the sounds of the table give a connection to the physical units.
On that last point, you'll be amazed when you try some of these tables and listen to the audio. I'm not just talking about the digital sound samples from the machines. Even the sound of the ball rolling is perfect. You don't even realize it until you play the old Jive Time table. The sound of a metal ball on wood is very distinctive and compelling, as is the electro-mechanical sound as the ball hits those old-style bumpers and the score counter flips. Similarly, the absence of background noise produced by the modern tables stands in stark contrast and makes you realize just how well the sounds have been reproduced.
@Corbie - Neither the MGC or E3 are representative of the entirety of the gaming community. They are a sampling of that community. (In the statistical sense.) If you can jam-pack a conference where so many people are willing to fly across the nation to Las Vegas or Oconomowoc WI, you've got some major (potentially money-making) interest.
It's shocking who you'll find is a classic gamer, too. My wife works with a vet who it turns out is a huge fan of the 2600. Who would of guessed that one?
@Corbie sez... "I just think the retro crowd is much smaller in the overall scheme of things than us retrogamers are aware of."
Hey, we have more than enough numbers to overpack the Midwest Gaming Classic show! Plus, there's a lot of positive reaction to retro gaming.
I think the real problem is that Bit Trip is not so much retro gaming as it is chic. Retro styling is chic right now. BTB is retro styled. Ergo, BTB is chic. Anything chic tends to be faddish in nature.
Gradius was a completely different beast. First off, shmups appeal to a smaller crowd. That's just the way it is. Secondly, it wasn't that great of a game. I picked up the GBA Gradius after trying the WiiWare version, and it was worlds better.
Maybe my memory is faulty, but I recall MM9 holding on for a few months? Certainly long enough for VGChartz to make the (apparently baseless) claim of it selling hundreds of thousands of copies.
@WarioFan63 - Isn't gambling considered a red flag by the ESRB? Perhaps they felt that this version focused too much on gambling over the more diverse experience of the full game? That's all I can think of.
@The Fox - I've been telling people to wait on the DSi upgrade until DSiWare comes into its own. After all, DSiWare is really the primary reason for an upgrade. (Do we all really need another camera?) No reason to upgrade if you're happy with your DS Lite.
Now if you don't have a DS at all, go grab a DSi instead of a Lite. You'll be kicking yourself in 6 months if you don't.
Not so yay for everything else though. 500 points for card games? I could probably get the cart new for $10 if I tried hard enough, and a used copy would almost certainly be closer to the $10 mark.
I wonder what Nintendo's waiting for on all the cool stuff that EU has been getting? I hope they're not holding off for the E3 to "soften the blow" if the announcements don't go so well...
Comments 551
Re: Review: Crystal Defenders R2 (WiiWare)
@KnucklesSonic8 - No, I did say that the chocobo thingy should be available at the beginning of R2. The rest of the espers are only if you beat the game.
Hmm... maybe you get the chocobo if you have beaten R1 already? Dunno. Let me know if you figure out how to get it. (Just so I can get it straight in my head. Espers are not very useful IMHO.)
Re: Review: Crystal Defenders R2 (WiiWare)
@KnucklesSonic8 - Here goes...
Hope that fills in the gaps! And just go download R2. You'll be happy enough with it.
Re: Review: Boom Blox Bash Party (Wii)
@Objection_Blaster - Those haunted kitty levels get annoying, don't they? I stopped in the same spot.
Re: Mario Kart Wii Used As a Driving Education Simulator
@Ricardo91 - Wasn't that the premise of the Mario Bros. movie?
Re: Review: Art Style: PiCTOBiTS (DSiWare)
Great work on getting the review out so fast! I agree that this is a really fun puzzle game. It's not going to be the next Tetris franchise, but I imagine it will see its share of clones.
Re: Mario Kart Wii Used As a Driving Education Simulator
@VGP - I don't think the point is realism. The idea is to demonstrate that driving takes a great deal of concentration. Adding distractions to an intense video game demonstrates to the students the problem with using such distractions in a real vehicle.
Re: Mario Kart Wii Used As a Driving Education Simulator
The analog for when we were kids was POLE POSITION. Remember swerving around cars at breakneck speeds, occasionally running into a billboard and exploding in a shower of car parts? Yeah, that was awesome.
(The other big game was San Francisco Rush. Nothing quite like driving under a truck, hitting the hidden ramp, and jumping a skyscraper.)
Thankfully, video game driving doesn't really translate to the real world. Despite crazy driving habits in video games, controlling a moving ton of metal was a slightly more daunting experience the first few times out. I don't know what anyone else remembers, but I recall not wanting to shift into third gear. Sort of a "this is fast enough for the moment".
Eventually you get the hang of the beastie and are whipping it into parking spaces backwards before you know it. Try THAT in Mario Kart.
Re: Nintendo Download: Masks, Crystals, Chess and Art (US)
If you want a challenging experience, go for R2. You won't miss much from R1.
I've gotten much farther on R2. I now have crystals that extend range and increase fire rate. The latter feels much more effective and satisfying. I've gotten a few units that are different from R1, but as of yet they have not proven themselves very effective. Enemies come hard and fast with ridiculous amounts of health. Knowing how to use the thief greatly tempers this as you can purchase more than enough fighters to fend off any attack.
The greatest strategy in R2 is knowing the proper choke point. If you choke the enemies on their way through a single-path pass, you can nail them all at once with as much firepower as you can bring to bear. It actually gets a bit crazy as you have to lay off the firepower if you want your thieves to do their jobs.
Again, both are just fine. But if you're looking for challenge, just skip to R2.
Re: Nintendo Download: Masks, Crystals, Chess and Art (US)
@KnucklesSonic8 - The simple breakdown is this:
I don't think you can go wrong with either one. As I said above, they're basically the same game. Even the overworld is exactly the same. I have not yet beat R2, so I can't comment on all of the extra features. So far I've used the energizer crystal. As I said, it doesn't add much to the game, IMHO.
Hope that helps!
Re: Nintendo Download: Masks, Crystals, Chess and Art (US)
Mini Review of Crystal Defenders R2
R2 is the same bleeping game as R1. Effectively the same maps, same classes, same progression, same damn game. The sprites have been swapped out for the characters and the maps have forks in the road so that the creeps come from both directions. The latter part serves to make the game more challenging.
There are a few new features in the form of items like power crystals to boost the effectiveness of nearby characters. However, these are passive and don't add much to gameplay.
Verdit: Don't buy it unless you're a hardcore Tower Defense fan. Go here instead.
Re: Bethesda Has "Really Big" Plans For Wii
Something new and interesting, eh? Something like...
STAR TREK CONQUEST 2: WRATH OF THE FANS???
Re: Wii Sports Resort To Feature Golf, Table Tennis
Well, the table tennis in WiiPlay WAS inferior. It was simply a "move the paddle" type of affair. One would hope that a Motion+ version would be superior.
As for the Golf game, I have a feeling that it stems from development Nintendo did to help out the latest version of Tiger Woods with Motion+ support. Like so many of their minigame compilations, they took what they already had available and packaged it into a product.
Re: Digital Leisure Announces Copter Crisis for WiiWare
KDR_11k hit it on the head. I'll reserve judgment until the title is released, but the amateur PovRay rendering of the chopper isn't giving me confidence.
(As I recall, these guys previously did Sodoku WiiWare and the Labyrinth WiiWare game.)
Re: Nintendo Download: Masks, Crystals, Chess and Art (US)
@bboy2970 - I purchased Aquia. It's not nearly as much fun as it looks in the previews.
Re: Nintendo Download: Masks, Crystals, Chess and Art (US)
I just noticed this: "Silver Star Chess (Rated E for Everyone - Mild Suggestive Themes)"
Now THERE'S something you don't see every day! A chess game with suggestive themes? Faaaancy that.
Re: WiiWare puzzler "Bang!" becomes Bang Attack
It was a bad name anyway. Besides being completely non-descript, it's been used before. I always think of "Bang! Gunship Elite" whenever I hear the name.
Re: Nintendo Download: Masks, Crystals, Chess and Art (US)
Yay! Not only did we get Majora's Mask, but we also got Crystal Defenders! I've been playing through R1. While it's a bit disappointing that Crystal Defenders was split, I honestly feel like you get enough of a game for your money. The first one gets really hard after a while, only to drop in difficulty once you figure out the thieves. I'm hoping that R2 will shake things up again and freshen up the gameplay even more.
As for DSiWare... hmm... well, we're one week closer to some real games. (pause) I think.
Re: Don't Toss Those Old Controllers Yet
You can already get these adapters from sites like this one, but the 3-in-1 aspect is a nice twist. I might have to snag one!
Re: NSFW: Zelda, Peach and Samus Shed Clothing In The Name Of Art
1. Why does the lady in the picture have a chicken on her shoulder?
2. When did this become a porn site rather than a news site?
3. If you guys keep this up, many company filters will start blocking your website.
Re: Excitebots Crashes Out At Retail
There are several good games for the Wii that started off slow, then picked up after that. Boom Blox comes to mind as the quintessential example. Everyone thought it was a failure for the first month or two, then BAM. Sales picked up radically.
The pattern that has been developing is that the Wii's audience purchases games on their own schedule and not the release schedule. This is a bit of a throwback to the NES days, and it probably seems counter-intuitive to the marketeers. But that's just the way it's working.
Excite Bots will sell. Just give it time.
Re: First Impressions: Contra ReBirth
Yay for 480p support! I would have preferred if they would extend the edges (it's a side-scroller), but I'll take what I can get. Merely paying attention to the system setting is a good start.
Looking forward to this one!
Re: Rampant Speculation: IGN Teases New 'Hardcore' Title
It's blurry, but it's apparently 'mature'
Do not want!
Re: GoldenEye Designer Backs Virtual Console Release
Ah, GoldenEye. What a great game! Especially in my household of 5 children. (Plenty of multiplayer. ) There was nothing better than being... The Man With the Golden Gun
(cue Bond theme)
Re: Top 20 WiiWare Games in USA (13th May)
@Corbie & Daz - Thanks guys!
Re: Top 20 WiiWare Games in USA (13th May)
@Dazza - You just had to mess with the formating, didn't you?
If you're going to make it more interesting looking, at least do it right with CSS! Using an image isn't very accessible. Especially for people with alternative browsers on low-memory platforms. (Hint, hint)
Re: Top 20 WiiWare Games in USA (13th May)
Wow, some old games seem to be making some strong comebacks. Defend Your Castle just keeps climbing, Wild West Guns is holding its own, and MM9 is back on the charts!
I wonder if this indicates a sudden influx of new WiiWare users?
Re: Watch Contra Re-Birth In Action
@Objection_Blaster - Yeah, 3DRealms just went out of business. Probably not the best comparison to make.
Re: All new Icarian: Kindred Spirits screenshots
I'm looking forward to this game. Hopefully the game will hold up as well as the art style.
Re: Review: Star Trek: Conquest (Wii)
Anyone remember back when Activision broke the back the of the "Star Trek games suck!" curse? With games like Armada, Bridge Commander, and Elite Force, Star Trek appeared to have a bright future in video games.
Then Activision sued.
Activision was so disgusted with the progress made on the Trek franchise by Berman & Co. that they sued Paramount for devaluing the brand! (Rightly so, I must add.) And that right there was the end of the greatest string of Star Trek games ever.
Thanks a lot Paramount. Everyone told you that guy was an idiot. But it only took you three series, a lawsuit, total loss of profits, and a completely frakked up franchise to make you realize it, eh?
Paramount is obviously leaching from the bottom of the barrel to even consider whoring out their core franchise like this. Alas, I fear the Star Trek I knew is dead and buried. The new movie may be a great thrill ride, but a vapid, storyless thrill ride is not Star Trek.
Thanks for the great review Spencer! Maybe I'll pick this up for $5 used at some point and use some white-out out on the Star Trek title. It should make the game more enjoyable.
Re: Nintendo Download: Soccer, Pirates and Galaxies (US)
You guys do know that there's a way for Nintendo to NOT celebrate the 300th VC title next week, right?
/puts cynical hat on
Nothing says that Nintendo has to release a VC download at all.
Re: NSFW: Fan-made Muramasa Artwork Shows Plenty of Crack
Since when has softcore -- excuse me, CASUAL -- pr0n been considered news?
Re: Nintendo Rejects Intellivision Lives for DSiWare
@MarkyVigoroth - The Intellivision had a keypad that was critical for most games. The DSi's touch screen is a better fit for that keypad than the Wii. (You can use the touchscreen to emulate the keypad, and the top screen to play.)
Also, VC never goes below $5 a game. But DSiWare does...
Re: Nintendo Rejects Intellivision Lives for DSiWare
@Sean - Emulated Intellivision never feels quite right. (It's the keypad/disc controller that messes everything up.) If you want a good first experience, you need to use a real system. Of course, the Inty isn't really an action system. It's games are more thoughtful, so that's something to keep in mind.
@SmaMan - Yay! Another Inty user! Do you have Dreadnaught? I had to pay an arm and a leg to get it, but it's quite possibly the best game on the system; bar none.
Re: Nintendo Rejects Intellivision Lives for DSiWare
Nooo! Khaaaaaaan! (starts singing)"And so I play my.... Intelli-viiiision."(/singing)
Despite this setback, it would be incredible if the games were released via a DSi Virtual Console. At 200 points a game, requiring a keypad, and with a lower resolution than the DSi's screen, these games would be much better suited to the DSi console than the Wii. Let's hope this goes through in the future. Having games like Shark Shark, Astrosmash, Thin Ice, BurgerTime, Locomotion, Utopia, etc. to take on the go would be awesome!
Re: It's My Birthday: Casual Gaming Hits a New Low
This isn't "casual" this is "kids". If you're going to start lumping stuff like this into casual, you might as well complain about the XBox 360 and its support for Barbie Horse Adventures.
Now it may be insanely lame, but so is much of the kid-targeted shovelware ported to all three systems. My son has gotten into the Bakugan toys and is super-excited about an upcoming video game based on the concept. I don't have the heart to tell him that it will probably be the same sort of cheap cash-in that third party companies always create for game systems.
(As an aside, anyone remember back when Capcom rocked the house with their licensed Disney properties? We need to go back to that mentality. That was some really great stuff.)
Re: Round Table: Are Nintendo Neglecting the 'Hardcore Gamer'?
@warioswoods - I think you just nailed it with your description. "Childlike wonder" is exactly what games are missing today. That euphoric feeling of your childhood imagination leaping out into the screen in front of you. Truly a magical experience.
@Adam - Are you saying I'm long-winded? Huh huh huh?!? pause
No arguments here. And the SNES did have some pretty engaging titles back in the day. Not quite as deep as the PC gameplay, but still just as engaging. I can't count how many hours my siblings and I lost to Street Fighter II...
@Corbie - I find that a bit surprising. The first party offerings have actually been a slight disappointment to me. It's not that I don't like Mario Kart or Zelda. I just feel like we've been here before. The Wii versions have great new controls, but they don't really move their series forward by much. (Though I will argue that Mario Galaxy is the exception that proves the rule. )
Personally, I've found far more entertainment in third party offerings. Geometry Wars: Galaxies, Boom Blox, Guitar Hero, Red Steel, Zack & Wiki, Pinball Hall of Fame, Ghost Squad, Defend Your Castle, Toki Tori, Onslaught, etc. Just to name a few.
Re: Round Table: Are Nintendo Neglecting the 'Hardcore Gamer'?
Hardcore - You guys keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. In fact, the Wii is full of "hardcore" games like shmups and other insanely difficult challenges.
What it doesn't have is games that target the "core gamer" audience. You know, first person shooters, Grand Theft Auto, 3D beat-em ups, etc. To which I have to say--!!! I have mixed feelings on.
I don't want to see a GTA on the Wii. I don't really need a Gears of War. I don't need a Half Life 2. (That game was so insanely boring. I felt like I was playing it just because I paid for it. Beyond that, it was more work than fun. The story didn't even pay off.)
However, I do think the Wii is generically a good platform for FPSes. (Onslaught, Conduit, Red Steel, Metroid Prime) I do think the Wii is an excellent platform for driving games. (Excite Truck, Mario Kart, Excite Bugs). I do think the Wii can do adventure quite well. (Zelda) So there is room for games that appeal to the core gamer audience.
But doesn't that create a bit of a dichotomy? I mean what is so different between what's on the 360/PS3 and what's on the Wii? Well, the answer is: Those other two systems take themselves too seriously.
Back in what I think of as the golden age of PC gaming (~92-96), games were wide and varied. No idea was too wacky or outlandish. I'd bring home a copy of PC Gamer and read about the games where I got to shoot space-farring furballs, solve tongue-in-cheek mysteries, learn to build cities, become a dystopian taxi driver, fire insane amounts of ammo from a 3-story tall mech, learn the identity of who is beneath my mutant facade, outsmart insane computers, take to the skies for the freedom of true flight, get transported to other worlds at warp speed, fly hovercraft through cliffs at breakneck speeds, hunt down replicants while questioning my own identity, etc., etc., etc.
The games of the past were so inventive and engaging that the signal to noise ratio was nothing short of astounding. You really could travel to new worlds and pique the imagination. Yet it worked because there was an element of unrealism the entire time. The adventures were engaging, but surreal enough to where they were an escape from the real world.
Modern gaming doesn't do that for me. It evolved from that history, but it lost the magic along the way. Too focused on realism and simulation at the expense of engaging the user in new and interesting ways. Is there any wonder that the gaming market appears to have peaked just prior to Nintendo's coupe de grace?
For right now, Nintendo is offering the next best thing to deeply engaging gameplay. They're offering arcade fun that any age or personality can find enjoyable and interactive. They are a bit more than skin deep, and they are enjoyable. But they don't hold you in like the PC games of yore did.
If someone can recapture the magic of what made early PC gaming so spectacular, they'd really have something. A real solution to the ever shrinking issue of the core audience balanced against the need to upgrade the casual audience.
That's my 2 cents anyway. Take it or leave it.
Re: Chillingo Bringing Rolando Killer to WiiWare
Am I the only one who thought: "Flying House" when he saw that image?
Re: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time Remake Coming to XBLA, WiiWare
I'm really excited, but cautiously so. I'm concerned that the 3D art style will detract from the game. It's too bad they couldn't redo the sprites in higher resolutions rather than going 3D. (ala Street Fighter II remix) But I'll certainly be first in line to give this a try!
(Oh, and there had better be four player! That's the best part. )
Re: Review: Excitebots: Trick Racing (Wii)
@pHaT-aNt_ - I don't know if it will help or not, but one of the issues I've seen with Excite Truck is that many people use the controls incorrectly. They tend to try and rotate the remote laterally as if the horn was on the front of the remote. Instead, you need to rotate as if the horn is on the side of the remote, using push/pull motions. The game gets instantly more responsive when people realize the mistake. (For the record, I also had that problem at first.)
@LinktotheFuture - Are you using the new photo channel which plays AACs? These files are incompatible with Excite Truck which only plays MP3s. If that's not the issue, then there are two things I can think of: 1) SDHC cards (>2GB) do not appear to be supported by Excite Truck. 2) The program creating the MP3 container isn't doing it quite right and the files need to be re-encoded. (I had this issue with some AACs on the DSi.) The info in this thread might help.
@Corbie - Excellent review as usual. I expected this game to be good. I'm happy to head that Nintendo and Monster didn't disappoint!
Re: Talking Point: About "The Waggle"
You're far too hard on analog control sticks. They do provide real and superior control for 3D games. For movement, they allow you to move at a wide variety of angles rather than being stuck to the 8 standard directions. They also allow for precision movement, something that is important in most First Person Shooters.
Analog sticks also provide an aiming mechanism. While hardly as nice as a mouse or Wii Remote, the stick allows precision control of the cursor and instant response. Something which isn't available with an 8-way dpad. (Anyone remember moving the cursor across the screen Sim City?)
The DPad has been de-emphasized not to push the analog stick, but because of a change in market priorities. The last two generations were all about pushing 3D games and content. No one felt there was value in supporting 2D anymore. Since the analog controller is a superior control for 3D work, it should come as no surprise that more emphasis was placed on it. Especially when the analog stick can do everything a dpad does; regardless of the circumstances where a dpad is superior.
On the issue of waggle, my sense is that the industry was deeply shocked by the unexpected introduction of the Wii platform. They had put a ton of time and money into their existing lines of business and simply weren't prepared for the sudden shift in mindset. Some attempted to get on board right away and use the motion controls to their fullest potential (with varying degrees of success), but other companies were left holding properties that didn't really fit the platform.
Fortunately, Nintendo provided a way out. When Nintendo ported Zelda, they added a "sword swipe" motion for using the sword. Of course, this was such a simple motion that other game makers went, "Hey, we can do that for our games too. Just use a waggle instead of a button or a true motion!" And thus the original intent of motion controls was lost and we ended up with the same old ports as always. (Plus a ton of shovelware from the PS2 that Nintendo didn't used to license.)
Re: Williams Pinball EU Release Date Confirmed for September
@SmaMan - That's surprising. Most Target stores had a huge stock of them that they were selling between $13 - $20. That's how I got my copy.
The game does have Pin*Bot on it. It was a bit of a shocker after playing the NES game for so long.
Re: Williams Pinball EU Release Date Confirmed for September
Wow, I didn't realize this wasn't out in Europe yet. Let me just say, you guys are in for a treat. These are as close to the real pinball tables as you can get without actually going to the arcade! The controls feel natural, the table physics are spot on, and even the sounds of the table give a connection to the physical units.
On that last point, you'll be amazed when you try some of these tables and listen to the audio. I'm not just talking about the digital sound samples from the machines. Even the sound of the ball rolling is perfect. You don't even realize it until you play the old Jive Time table. The sound of a metal ball on wood is very distinctive and compelling, as is the electro-mechanical sound as the ball hits those old-style bumpers and the score counter flips. Similarly, the absence of background noise produced by the modern tables stands in stark contrast and makes you realize just how well the sounds have been reproduced.
Re: Top 20 WiiWare Games in USA (29th Apr)
@Corbie - Neither the MGC or E3 are representative of the entirety of the gaming community. They are a sampling of that community. (In the statistical sense.) If you can jam-pack a conference where so many people are willing to fly across the nation to Las Vegas or Oconomowoc WI, you've got some major (potentially money-making) interest.
It's shocking who you'll find is a classic gamer, too. My wife works with a vet who it turns out is a huge fan of the 2600. Who would of guessed that one?
Re: Top 20 WiiWare Games in USA (29th Apr)
@Corbie sez... "I just think the retro crowd is much smaller in the overall scheme of things than us retrogamers are aware of."
Hey, we have more than enough numbers to overpack the Midwest Gaming Classic show! Plus, there's a lot of positive reaction to retro gaming.
I think the real problem is that Bit Trip is not so much retro gaming as it is chic. Retro styling is chic right now. BTB is retro styled. Ergo, BTB is chic. Anything chic tends to be faddish in nature.
Gradius was a completely different beast. First off, shmups appeal to a smaller crowd. That's just the way it is. Secondly, it wasn't that great of a game. I picked up the GBA Gradius after trying the WiiWare version, and it was worlds better.
Maybe my memory is faulty, but I recall MM9 holding on for a few months? Certainly long enough for VGChartz to make the (apparently baseless) claim of it selling hundreds of thousands of copies.
Re: Nintendo Download: Clubhouse Games, Paper Planes, Platforms and Warring States (US)
@WarioFan63 - Isn't gambling considered a red flag by the ESRB? Perhaps they felt that this version focused too much on gambling over the more diverse experience of the full game? That's all I can think of.
Re: Mad Dog McCree Coming To The Wii?
@Atlantis1982 - Maybe initially, but not for long...
Re: Nintendo Download: Clubhouse Games, Paper Planes, Platforms and Warring States (US)
@The Fox - I've been telling people to wait on the DSi upgrade until DSiWare comes into its own. After all, DSiWare is really the primary reason for an upgrade. (Do we all really need another camera?) No reason to upgrade if you're happy with your DS Lite.
Now if you don't have a DS at all, go grab a DSi instead of a Lite. You'll be kicking yourself in 6 months if you don't.
Re: Mad Dog McCree Coming To The Wii?
MadDog McCree was awesome! Cheezy, linear, and short, but awesome! If they sell it as a budget title with Zapper support, I might pick up a copy.
Re: Nintendo Download: Clubhouse Games, Paper Planes, Platforms and Warring States (US)
Yay! Paper Airplane!
Not so yay for everything else though. 500 points for card games? I could probably get the cart new for $10 if I tried hard enough, and a used copy would almost certainly be closer to the $10 mark.
I wonder what Nintendo's waiting for on all the cool stuff that EU has been getting? I hope they're not holding off for the E3 to "soften the blow" if the announcements don't go so well...