Merry Christmas!

Your present is coming in due time…

New Super Mario Bros. Wii — First Impressions

Mario games have always been the epitome of platforming perfection. I loved New Super Mario Bros. on the DS (the first 2D Mario game since the Game Boy's Super Mario Land 2) and I couldn't wait for a sequel. I got exactly what I wanted and more with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Nintendo's first Mario platformer on a console since Super Mario World on the SNES in 1990. I'll spare you the story — like it really matters — suffice to say it marks the return of the Koopalings.

The ever present Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Star all return, along with NSMB's Mini-Mushroom and three new power-ups: the Propeller Mushroom, the Ice Flower, and the Penguin Suit. The Propeller Mushroom gives Mario the ability to jump very high and descend slowly. The Ice Flower is exactly what you'd expect: it's the opposite of a Fire Flower in that with it Mario throws ice balls which freeze enemies into blocks of ice. Ice balls can often be more useful than fireballs because many enemies that are impervious to fireballs can be frozen, then shattered; and ice blocks can be used as platforms in the water. Finally, the Penguin Suit gives Mario Ice Flower abilities plus better traction on ice and improved swimming controls.

Gameplay is essentially identical to its predecessors in almost every way except two. First, NSMBW is freaking hard! I have not died this many times in a Mario game since The Lost Levels. Fortunately, some of this difficulty is alleviated by the second gameplay addition: simultaneous co-op. Up to three additional players (controlling Luigi and two Toads) can run alongside Mario and help by taking out enemies, finding secrets, and collecting hard to reach items. They can also be your saving grace, because as long as one player is still alive and kicking, the dead player will float back onto the screen in a bubble (which must be popped by an active player in order to free them) and the level continues. One of the downsides to co-op play is that characters can bump into each other, or bounce off of each other's heads, making it difficult to maneuver quick jumps and small platforms. The other is that your partners can always turn on you, stealing your 1-Up Mushrooms or throwing you into enemies and traps. Actually, this is less a problem with the game itself, and more a problem with your friends. It's actually a perfect example of the competitive co-op style of gameplay at which Nintendo excels.

At this point we're about three-quarters of the way through the main story mode (I've been playing exclusively with my roommate in two-player co-op), though it's probably more like two-thirds, as we've taken a few short cuts. I'll write a full review with my final score once we've played most of the story, including the final level, and more of the Coin Battle mode. Thus far I'd call this a must have for any hardcore Wii owner.

A transitional period

It's been a very long time since I've posted regularly, and for the three or four of you who check regularly, I'm sorry. A lot of stuff in my personal life has made it difficult to concentrate on non-essentials. It has been difficult enough finding time to spend with my wife and friends. I have blogs already written, it's just a matter of finding the time and ambition to type, edit, and post them. My Beatles Rock Band review is long overdue. But I do have some good news… and no, it has nothing to do with saving money on my car insurance.

Game Nutz, my own personal Cheers in Sherrill, NY (and soon, Canastota), and employer of Boter and Sticky, who invited me on their podcast, has just added me to its roster. Video games and gaming culture have been my life since I first held a ColecoVision controller at the age of three — that is why I started this blog and joined the podcast — and I am proud and excited to be working someplace where my otherwise useless knowledge of video gaming will be applicable. This also means the possibility of getting more writing done, as I can bring my laptop in and write during downtime.

Frankly, I'd like to get paid to do just this: writing editorials and reviews of video games. I love writing, I love expressing my opinions, I love video games and I love getting paid. It would be a dream job. If you're reading this, and know someone who can help me find that dream job, my email is on my profile. Until that happens, I'll take a job in retail. I'll have to do this as a hobby until then.

On a side note, I am going to stop posting links to new podcast episodes, at least for a while. Anyone who is interested should know where to find it (it's linked in this post and available on iTunes), and it's starting to become a cheap filler when I'm too lazy to type up an actual article.

Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 18

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Round 3 of "Which Sucks Less" this week: DS Lite vs. DSi. I had a long list of interesting topics for this week's episode… which is still sitting on my computer desk where I left it that morning, so I pretty much joined in whatever topics came up.

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Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 17

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First, round 2 of "Which Sucks Less." This week: PS3 "fat" vs. PS3 Slim. We then move on to mostly conversation since it was a slow news week. Sorry I'm so late in posting this, but life has been interfering with my blogging time again. I'll be posting some new editorial blogs soon, but for now, enjoy The guys from Game Nutz (plus me)!

(Stay tuned for the easter egg at the end of the podcast. Unfortunately an encoding error cut off part of it, but there's enough there to get the gist.)

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Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 16

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We start out with round 1 of "Which Sucks Less." This week: Xbox 360 Elite vs. Xbox 360 Arcade. (I still stand by that if you buy a used HDD and headset, the Arcade's the better deal, $50 rebate notwithstanding. We discuss the Wii System Update 4.2 issue, then more or less ramble on for the remaining 20 minutes about whatever topics happen to come up. All in all, a bad week for news, but a great week for conversation!

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Game Nutz Podcast: Fillercast 1

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Boter and Sticky took the week off, so I invited a couple of my friends over to record a podcast to fill in the gap. We ramble a bit, and there's a bit more history, meaning a few inside jokes get thrown around, but I think we pulled off a decent episode. If you like what you hear, let me know and we might make this a semi-regular thing. Check out the cool stereo effect I used on our voices. It's like you're really in the room with us!

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What's wrong with digital distribution?

It's all the rage in music, movies, and now, video games. Digital distribution allows publishers to cut costs by reducing physical components, eliminating retail middle-men, and giving them more control over price. It also makes shopping more convenient for the consumer by allowing customers to make purchases from their own home. It saves time and money for both the publisher and the consumer. It sounds like a win-win situation.

So why, you may ask, am I opposed to digital distribution? I am very wary of what comes with it. Yes, it is more convenient, and in most cases, cheaper (especially if you take traveling expenses into account), but it also takes a lot of control away from the consumer:

• The lack of a physical disc means if you are unhappy with the product you purchased, or simply done with it, there is no chance of either getting a refund or trading in your used games.



• Digital Rights Management can get in the way of how you can use what you have legally purchased. You can't usually share, copy, or loan your media if it's DRM-protected. For example, if I bought 'Splosion Man on XBLA, it is tied to both my Gamertag and my system ID number, so I can't loan it to my friend like I did with my Ghostbusters disc. Same goes with Rock Band DLC. I can't go over to my friend's house with a memory card loaded with songs and play them on his system. Lame.
  
  DRM also limits other media. iTunes songs and movies I downloaded prior to iTunes Plus cannot be played on my Xbox or PSP because they are not approved or registrable devices.



• Then there are future compatibility concerns. Remember all those maps you bought for Halo 2 on your original Xbox? The only way you can use them now is by hooking up your old Xbox. You cannot transfer them to the 360, even though the game itself is backwards compatible. Do you think all those PSN, XBLA, or Wii Shop Channel games and add-ons you've spent real money on will work on the PlayStation 4, third generation Xbox, or whatever Nintendo creates to follow the Wii? Maybe if they're feeling generous, but they're under no obligation to do so.

Digital distribution also creates a storage issue. Whereas an infinite number of games can be stored on individual removable discs, internal hard drive space is limited. The average Xbox 360 game takes up about 4.5GB. If all you have is the basic 20GB HD, you'll be lucky to fit four games on it after the drive is formatted and NXE installed.

My biggest complaint with digital distribution is over-all support. While companies like Valve promise that games purchased online will always be playable, even if the company goes under, not all game publishers are so kind. I've been burned by digital distribution before, and left with a worthless collection of ones and zeros. It was an iPod game by Rock Band developer Harmonix called Phase. Phase used a special playlist in iTunes to create gameplay tracks with your own music. At some point in the past year or so, probably following a software update, that playlist disappeared, and Phase stopped working entirely, even though the game still appears in iTunes and on my iPod. I paid $5 for a game I can no longer play.

Retailers hate digital distribution too. No one makes money on hardware sales. The profit is in games, especially used games. Some retailers are already refusing to stock the PSP Go because of its unreasonable price and download only game distribution. If the game industry wants to switch to digital distribution, they're going to have to start selling consoles to retailers at an even greater loss than they do now so the hardware profits for the retailers will make up for the lack of tangible software sales.

While downloadable content has helped define this generation of gaming by prolonging the lives of many games, and digital distribution could have a lot to offer both publishers and consumers, right now there are too many obstacles to overcome; and with Blu-ray starting to become an industry standard, I don't see physical media being completely replaced for quite some time. I, for one, have no problem with that.

Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 15

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(Sticky and I take the reigns while Boter's out of town. This episode was a little late because Boter typically does the editing and posting. Also, I forgot to post Episode 14 last week, so if you're not already subscribed, check it out. Finally, there will not be an Episode 16 this week, but keep an eye out for a possible Episode 15½ to hold you over.)

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Can the PlayStation brand recover?

Five years ago, the PlayStation 2 dominated the gaming market. Though under the hood it was less powerful than most of the competition, its vast library and practicality as a DVD player put the black box in almost every gamer’s living room. (While some attribute the PS2’s success to being first on the market, this is untrue, as the less-successful Dreamcast predates it by almost a year.)

What really helped the PlayStation brand was a huge budget, a long list of exclusives (Tekken, Twisted Metal, Metal Gear Solid*, Grand Theft Auto*, Final Fantasy*, etc…), and brand name recognition. By the time the PS2 hit the market, “PlayStation” had become synonymous with video gaming, superceding even Nintendo. In 2003, after dominating the console market for several years, Sony revealed the PlayStation Portable, a revolutionary portable entertainment device that Sony dubbed the "Walkman of the 21st Century." Like the PS2, it could play games with full 3D graphics, DVD quality movies, and digital music. The PlayStation 3 was announced in 2005, promising a revolution in home entertainment through the use of Blu-ray.

(*Series were "timed exclusives" that eventually appeared on other systems after several months to a year.)

At some point between then and now, people stopped caring about PlayStation. Microsoft took over as the default choice for hardcore gamers with the Xbox 360, and Nintendo jumped from last place to first this console generation, while PlayStation took their place at the bottom. How did this happen? Why did this happen? And can the PlayStation bounce back before it becomes the next Sega?

Sony became infamous for over-promising and under-delivering. The PSP was supposed to be a groundbreaking piece of technology that would replace the Game Boy, iPod, and portable DVD player with one unit. It would have PS2 quality graphics, analog controls, and a library of games & movies that rivaled its console cousin. Instead it became a bulky, fragile piece of equipment that had a short battery life, graphics that fit somewhere between the Nintendo 64 and the Dreamcast, faulty control inputs, and not one, but two expensive proprietary media devices: UMD and Memory Sticks. UMDs were slow, pricey, and inefficient, and if you already owned a movie on DVD and wanted to watch it on the PSP, your only options were either to buy it again, or watch it as a low resolution 368×208 mp4 file.

Then we have the PlayStation 3, which has been a media debacle from the get-go. First, there was the Killzone 2 "in-game footage" fiasco at E305, then there were the system shortages at launch, lack of games, multiple SKUs, backwards compatibility (or lack thereof), the HD format war, shoddy online functionality, not to mention Sony's arrogance (suggesting that gamers should have to work overtime so they can afford your product is probably not the wisest business move). Sony has managed to dig themselves more holes than Stanley Yelnats. In the past five years they've lost exclusive licenses, billions of dollars, and the trust of gamers and game press everywhere. Is there any way for them to recover?

The first step is ditching not-yet-established proprietary formats. They lucked out with Blu-ray — using the PS3 as a trojan horse for their next-gen format gave them an edge over the cheaper, more consumer-friendly HD DVD — but the Hi-Def war hurt PS3 sales by appending the question of "will it become obsolete?" UMDs were worthless from the beginning, and Memory Sticks were, and still are, the most expensive flash media cards out there.

Second, keep prices down. If the PS3 had been Sony's 1st entry into the gaming market, it would have died like the 3DO. The average consumers, and especially the average consumers' parents, are not going to shell out $600 for a game system. $400 for the 360 was even a stretch. Fortunately, Sony is finally addressing this issue with recent price drops to the PSP and PS3, though the PSP Go is still outrageously overpriced.

Third, improve online functionality. Why is it only Microsoft has gotten this right in a decade of online gaming? If Sony's going to compete in an online market, they need to have a reliable infrastructure.

Finally, ensure backwards compatibility. The PS2 had the largest library and install base of all the last-gen systems — it continues to grow even to this day — and was backwards compatible with almost all PS1 games. Current PS3's are only backwards compatible PS1 games. That means no chance of selling your PS2 when you upgrade if you ever want to play your old games again. Take a hint from Nintendo: The Game Boy Color could play Game Boy classic games; the Game Boy Advance could play GB and GBC games, the DS can play GBA games. Every Wii not only has Gamecube hardware, but controller and memory card ports as well.

Sony and the PlayStation brand still have lot of potential, but they have got to start looking at their business practices from the consumer end if they want to remain relevant for another generation.

Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 13

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(The whole crew is back at last, with topics galore! This episode more than makes up for previous failings with tons of topics, interesting discussions, and even a heated debate or two. Looks like 13 was our lucky number!)

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Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 12

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(Sticky misses another show due to unfortunate circumstances, and Boter and I are at a loss for topics. After fumbling for a while, we try switching seats for inspiration, and eventually admit defeat. Listen to the first 10-15 minutes… after that, you've been warned!)

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Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Wii) — First Impressions

I've finally had the opportunity to briefly try out Ghostbusters on the Wii. While it was far from enough time to write a full review, I think I got a good enough impression of the game to compare it with the Xbox 360 version (henceforth referred to as the Terminal Reality version). The first few things worth mentioning are the visuals, controls, and features.

The most obvious change is in the visuals. Instead of trying to duplicate the realistic look of the Terminal Reality versions on the underpowered hardware of the Wii (or the PS2, the version for which is basically the same as the Wii's, save for the controls), developer Red Fly Studio created a more cartoony aesthetic for their game. While these caricatures are easily identifiable as the actors they're meant to portray, some of the designs are a little goofy, and leave me wishing they had licensed DIC's designs from The Real Ghostbusters. Voices, music, and sound effects are all carried over from the Terminal Reality version, which helps to lend this version some authenticity.

Controls in the Wii version are just what you'd expect: move with the Nunchuk joystick, aim with the Remote, shoot with the B trigger. Trapping ghosts is the same as the Terminal Reality version, except that the game tells you what direction to slam the ghost, instead of whatever direction you want.

The features offered are a little different in the Red Fly version. Story mode is basically the same, with a few minor differences, and one major one: co-op. You can play through the entire campaign with a friend locally. You can also choose the gender of the Rookie character (though in co-op there is always one male and one female) which can cause continuity problems, since the game dialog still refers to the Rookie as a male. Also, there is no online multiplayer, nor can you play any additional non-story-related missions.

The couple areas I played were familiar, based on my play-through of the 360 version, but obviously less detailed and a bit truncated. Layouts are changed in some areas; especially the firehouse, which is not nearly as accurately reproduced as the Terminal Reality versions'. Most of the differences, however, would only be noticeable if you had played both versions.

All things considered, Ghostbusters is still a great game no matter which version you get. While I wouldn't recommend the Red Fly version over the Terminal Reality version, if all you have is a Wii or PS2, and you're a Ghostbusters fan, you shouldn't be disappointed by what this version has to offer. If I was to give it a score based on what I've played, I'd give it a solid 8.0.

If real life were like a role-playing game…

• Young boys and girls, with no martial arts or weapons training whatsoever, could pick fights with almost anyone or anything and win.


• Wild, hostile animals could easily (and legally) be captured, domesticated, and trained to fight along side you, or in your place.


• No one would lock their doors, or mind if you barged into their homes uninvited, initiated random conversations, or rummaged through their possessions.


• Death would be reversible with an item or spell (unless death occurs during a movie, then it is permanent and irreversible).


• Invisible creatures would randomly appear and attack you for no discernible reason.


• Everybody would talk to you about even the most mundane topics.


• When someone told you something important, they'd ask you if you understood before letting you leave. If you said no, they'd repeat everything word for word until you understood.


• You'd get money for killing animals.


• Hospitals would be put out of business by hotels.


• All shops would be open 24/7, even during the apocalypse.


• All of our hair would be perfect, even after hours of battle.


• Most people would have only one thing to say, and repeat it endlessly when talked to. For some, this would be a conversational improvement.


• Loud blasts of victorious music would accompany the completion of even menial tasks.


• Social groups in school would change from the jocks and nerds, to the Fighters and Mages.


• Doctors would only have to examine your HP and status bar to determine your health.


• You could survive poisoning by staying perfectly still.


• Blindness would only affect you in a fight; otherwise you could navigate just fine, examine objects, read entire books, etc.


• Areas would only need 5 houses and a few dozen residents to be legally classified as a city, and most cities would be within a reasonable walking distance from each other.

Special thanks to all my friends who contributed ideas to this list!

Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 11

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(Sticky takes a much deserved week off, and we address the unintentional one week hiatus.)

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BAFPA: the ideal rating system

FCC, MPAA, RIAA, ESRB… there are plenty of organizations whose job it is to monitor the media and to ensure our children are safe from potentially harmful material. What is considered harmful? Well, for example, violence is okay for children, as long as there is no blood, or it’s being done to cartoon characters. Some profanity is fine, as long as it’s not one of Carlin’s seven (more, or harsher profanity is sometimes forgivable if the source is considered a “classic”). Some innuendo can be overlooked in higher rated media, but nudity, regardless of how tastefully, artistically, or innocently it may be portrayed, is always forbidden; and sex itself is right out.

At least that’s what they tell us…

The fact of the matter is children are like snowflakes: no two are alike. As much as these organizations would like to clump all children into a single, homogenous group, how a child may respond to such material differs depending on various factors including genetics, upbringing, and social interaction. What may amuse one child might horrify another, while another may be “inspired” to imitate it. For example, I have played Grand Theft Auto games since I was 12 or 13, and have never felt compelled to reenact anything from it. A few years ago, a 13 year old boy a played too much GTA and was “inspired” to take a shotgun, point it at his cousin's face, and fire.

The bottom line is that the ESRB (or any other ratings board) has no clue what would be appropriate for your specific child. What they offer is a generic guideline based on a broad interpretation of the material they are reviewing. While their ratings of "E" for "Everyone", "E-10+" for "Everyone 10 and older", "T" for "Teens (13+)", and "M" for "Mature (17+)" (we needn’t be bothered with the extremely rare "eC" and "Ao" ratings at this point) may be accurate for most children, your results may vary.

Don’t take this the wrong way. I am by no means saying that it is okay to buy your seven-year-old that M-rated game. I am a strong supporter of the ESRB. The problem is that the people who complain the most about inappropriate content in video games are usually the ones most responsible for exposing their children to it. You can’t buy your child God of War and then complain about blood and bare breasts in the game. The game case says, literally in black and white, “Blood and Gore” and “Nudity” among its content descriptors. The ESRB ratings have existed for fifteen years now, and appear on both the game case (front and back, with descriptors on the back) and on the label of every video game. In fact, they are larger, more prominent, and better explained than most other ratings systems; yet probably the least heeded.

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Below are examples of typical ratings placement and size. Both the Batman Begins DVD (left) and the PS2 game (right) are shown with their respective ratings highlighted in red as they appear on both the label and disc. Click on the thumbnail images for larger versions:

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That’s why I propose BAFPA…

BAFPA is a supplement to the ESRB, which takes the individual child’s levels of maturity, tolerance, and self control into account as well as their chronological age. It is a complex, yet intuitive system that can work in conjunction with any and all of the existing rating systems. It requires little-to-no advertisement. Most people should already recognize it, and those who don’t can learn through word of mouth. BAFPA translates easily into any language, and will benefit not just your child, but every child, and society as a whole.

BAFPA stands for Be A F---ing Parent Already. Its absence is easily the biggest detriment to gaming, as well as most other media. It’s a simple enough system, but many people never take the time to learn it. The advantage of BAFPA is also its biggest disadvantage: its process and implementation differ from person to person. What works for one child, may or may not work for another. The system can never be perfected, but trial, error, and correction are ultimately rewarded.

One of BAFPA’s biggest obstacles is time. It takes time to implement the system properly — a lot of time, and patience, and attention — three things many adults are not willing to give up, it seems. I understand it’s easier to let teachers, lawyers, politicians, news reporters, and retailers make the decisions of what’s appropriate for your child for you, or to assume your child will instinctively make good decisions on their own, but without your involvement, either directly or subconsciously, you cannot expect such things to always be what’s best.

This ties into another important aspect of BAFPA: neither you, nor your child, are ever one-hundred percent right or wrong. You may think to yourself, “my eleven-year-old is responsible enough to play Grand Theft Auto,” then find him acting out violent or destructive activities from the game in your living room. Likewise, your child may convince you he’s old enough for Grand Theft Auto, until you find him getting a lap dance in one of Liberty City’s strip clubs.

The last part of BAFPA (as far as this article is concerned, anyway) is that “what” and “why” are often better answers to “can I have?” than “yes” or “no.” For example:

Child: “Mom, can I get Resident Evil 5?”
[Mom looks at rating on the front of game case.]
Mom: “This game is M-rated. Why do you want this instead of Banjo-Kazooie?”
Child: “Because my friend has it and I want to play it with him.”
[Mom looks at descriptors on the back of game case: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language.]
Mom: “This looks a little old for you. What do you do in it?”
Child: “Kill zombies.”
Mom: “Just zombies?”
Child: “Yeah.”
[Mom looks at screenshots and game descriptions on the back of the game case.]
Mom: “Not today. I’ll have to see it for myself, and if I think it’s okay for you, we can get it next time.”

Obviously, your results may vary, but believe it or not, with the right amount of effort and consistency, most children will respond better to, and learn more from, that conversation than this one:

Child: “Mom, can I get Resident Evil 5?”
Mom: “No.”
Child: “Why not?”
Mom: “Because I said so.”

It is also important that you explain to your child why you think [GAME X] is not appropriate for them. That way, when they are eventually and inevitably exposed to the objectionable content, they will recognize it, and hopefully make a mature, informed, and responsible decision based on what you’ve told them.

(On a sadder note, it is important for us to realize that some children, through no fault of their own, are mentally or emotionally imbalanced, and incapable of separating the fantasy from the reality. It is unfortunate, but it happens. These are the children whose distorted sense of reality and/or morality, often coupled with a lack of positive role models, can inspire them to try to emulate the games they play. Before we blame the games themselves, let us consider the fact that they are just as likely to be inspired by movies, television, music, literature, or other arts and media. In other words, video games do not make killers; ignorance and apathy do.)

Ironically, the people who read this and support BAFPA are probably the people who need it the least. The people to whom BAFPA is geared are the ones who will likely be leaving me the angry comments. Bear in mind, I am not trying to tell you how to raise your child, nor am I claiming that raising a child is easy. All I am saying is the responsibility of raising your child is not the ESRB’s, or the MPAA’s, or the government’s, or Jack Thompson’s, or Hilary Clinton’s, or the game studios’, or game retailers’; it’s yours. It is up to you to monitor, censor, and restrict or allow what games your child plays. That’s part of being a parent.

If you need any more help knowing whether you’re being a good parent, remember this:

If you’re worried that you’re not a good parent, you’re probably the best parent you can be. If you already know you’re a good parent, you’re probably doing something wrong.

So stop letting lawyers, retailers, politicians, and ratings boards raise your children, and Be A F---ing Parent Already!

Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 10

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Consoles need sleep too!

A couple of weeks ago I bought Pokémon Platinum for my DS. Since then I have spent nearly 15 hours on it. By comparison, it took me almost the same amount of time to play through 7½ hours of Ghostbusters. The same goes with Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and The Lost and Damned. I've played CW for 33½ hours compared to 7½ in TLAD. While part of this has to do with the game's portability, it also has to do with its accessibility. Even when sitting at home on the couch in front of my entertainment center, I'd sooner turn on a DS or PSP game and be playing instantly from where I left off than to boot up one of my consoles, navigate menus, and sit through load times to play a game.

Have you ever done that? Wanted to play a game, but decided not to because of the time it would take to start it? It may sound petty, but there are several games in my library that would get far more play time if I could just push a button and pick up where I was last time I played. Rock Band leaps to mind. Why don't game consoles have a sleep mode? Computers have it (and game consoles today are basically computers), portable game systems have it, iPods have it, even DVD players have it. So why not my Wii and Xbox 360?

Especially the Xbox! I timed it earlier, starting with the system off, and every game installed on my HDD: It takes approximately 1:55 to start playing in Liberty City when booting up GTA4 (longer if you have TLAD installed). Rock Band 2 takes two minutes before you can play a song — that's assuming you just keep jamming on the START button with total disregard of what character, instrument, and song you play. Burnout Paradise takes a whopping 2:25 before you can start wreaking havoc, and again, that's assuming you pick the very first car offered to you; if you want a different one, you'll have to wait about 5 seconds for each individual car to load. It's insane!

Perhaps I'm a relic of the cartridge age. Back in the 8- and 16-bit era, all you had to do was insert the game, turn on the console, and usually within 10-15 seconds you were playing the game. Even the PS1 and N64 were comparatively fast with their boot and load times.

Part of the problem is with system OS and menu screens. When I boot up my Xbox 360, it takes about 20 seconds to load the Dashboard before I can load the game. Sure, I can bypass some of this by changing the Dashboard preferences, but there's no way of changing on the fly when you boot up the system. The Wii doesn't even have the option!

Both the 360 and the PS3 support background downloads. A sleep mode can't be that much of a stretch. It's about time they tried it. After all, consoles need sleep too!

Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 9

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(I was absent for this episode, but fortunately for your listening enjoyment, Boter and Sticky carried on without me. Listen and enjoy!)

Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 8

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Game Nutz Podcast: Episode 7

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I got to bed really late, only got 4½ hours of sleep, and then overslept, so I'm not exactly on my "A" game this week, but Boter picked up the broken pieces of my conversation and managed to make a mostly coherent show from it, so props to him!

Where would modern gaming be without the Nintendo 64?

I'm sure it won't come as a surprise to anyone who's read my posts that I have a bit of a soft spot for Nintendo. I own every Nintendo system, every Mario platformer, and nearly all of the Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and other classic franchise games; not to mention countless Nintendo related tchochkies. (My family is so proud!) My love for Nintendo is fueled not just by nostalgia, but also by admiration. Whether "X-bots" or "Sony fanboys" want to admit it, their favorite systems owe more than they realize to Nintendo's innovation, in particular, the Nintendo 64.

The N64 was one of the first home consoles built from the ground up with 3D gaming in mind. 3D games before the N64 were usually (though not always) a novelty. Practical applications of polygons were mostly limited to space shooters and racing games. While certainly 3D games were inevitable, Nintendo was the first to bank on it. Super Mario 64 single-handedly changed the way games are made, and was the first 3D platformer to achieve commercial and critical success. If you want to talk about influential games, would we have ever seen console-specific first-person shooters like Halo, Resistance, or The Conduit if it hadn't been for the precedent set by GoldenEye 007?

But let's forget about the software for a moment, and take a look at the controller. Nintendo had already pioneered several aspects of the game controller — the control pad, shoulder buttons, diamond shaped button layout, a curved, ergonomic design — all of which have been incorporated into most game controllers that followed. The N64 added three elements that have carried over into almost all of its successors’ and competitors’: analog controls, accessory ports, and force feedback.

The first element, analog control, is what revolutionized 3D gaming on consoles. While PC games could achieve it to some degree with a mouse or trackball, the N64 controller gave us the first stationary, handheld, one-handed solution to precise analog controls. It worked so well that Sony redesigned the PlayStation's standard controller to include, not one, but two analog joysticks.

Another innovation lifted from the N64 controller has been force feedback. Even though "rumble" was not a standard feature of the N64 controller, it quickly became a defining feature, and the Rumble Pak became one of Nintendo's most successful after market peripherals, due in part to it being packed in with every copy of Star Fox 64, and supported by almost every game that followed, including GoldenEye. After the Rumble Pak, almost every game controller for every system had force feedback built-in; the exceptions being the Dreamcast, and the PS3's Sixaxis, the latter of which took a lot of flack for its lack of a rumble feature.

The Rumble Pak was made possible by another act of foresight by Nintendo: the expansion port on the controller. Originally meant for storing and accessing the mostly superfluous Controller Pak, the port allowed for more useful peripherals like the aforementioned Rumble Pak, and the Game Boy Transfer Pak. Though not widely utilized, the Transfer Pak may have inspired Sega's VMUs.

Finally, there is what I consider the biggest industry changer of them all: four controller ports. Almost every system made after the N64, with the inexplicable exception of the PS2, has supported four controllers out of the box. This feature revolutionized gaming by turning it into a far more social experience than ever before. Friends and family members would pile into living rooms, dorm rooms, and break rooms for hours at a time to play Mario Kart 64, GoldenEye 007, Mario Party, Super Smash Bros., Aki's wrestling series, and many other multiplayer gems of the day.

On a special, VIP tour of Disney's animation studio in Florida, I witnessed a group of artists sitting in an office playing on an N64 during a break. A background artist at the now defunct studio informed me that Bomberman 64 and GoldenEye were their favorites. Imagine if Nintendo hadn't put four controller ports on the N64. Would Mario Kart and GoldenEye have been the immensely popular party games they became? Would other game system designers have considered multiplayer as important as they do now? Sony certainly didn't.

So criticize the N64, if you will, for its "blurry textures," pervasive "fog effect," and use of cartridges (the former two problems I never understood when the PlayStation's 3D textures were always blocky and jagged, and short draw distance and polygon pop-up were pretty much standard), but you can't deny the fact that it contributed more good ideas to the gaming industry than any console prior or since. Video game systems today are in its debt.

Game Nutz Podcast

For months I've wanted to record a podcast to compliment my blog. Often my friends and I will sit around and chat about video games either in person, on the phone, or through IM. I've tried to arrange a podcast, but most of my friends are long distance, and I work odd hours, so we haven't been able to fully organize an online recording.

Then one day about a month ago I was visiting Game Nutz, my local independent game store, and one of the staff members with whom I have become friends mentioned that he and another Game Nutz employee and friend of mine had started a podcast. To make a long story short, two episodes later, they invited me to become a regular member of the show.

So if you'd like to hear the weekly gaming news and discussions of Drew "Boter," Rob "StickyNugget," and myself, then click here and download a few episodes, or follow the link to subscribe to the RSS through your feed of choice!

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Xbox 360) — Full Review

I've enjoyed Ghostbusters: The Video Game a lot. The game looks like the Ghostbusters movie, with realistic (albeit rubbery) models of the original cast as they would have appeared about 20 years ago. All the Ghostbusters' equipment is faithfully recreated from the original movie props, and all returning characters are voiced by their original actors. The script was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis (writers of both movies, and the actors who portray Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler respectively), and the majority of the background music is taken directly from Elmer Bernstein's score.

You control the nameless, voiceless "Rookie," a new recruit to the Ghostbusters whose purpose in the story is to test out the new experimental equipment Egon has invented, and to free up the other Ghostbusters so they can move the plot along. The story takes place in 1991, two years after Ghostbusters II (though strangely there are very few references outside of the first movie). A Gozer exhibit has opened in the Museum of Natural History, and a psychokinetic shockwave releases Slimer from his research containment case, and the Ghostbusters chase him back to the Sedgewick Hotel, his happy haunting grounds from the first film. Once you arrive, it becomes apparent that Slimer's not the only ghost wreaking havoc. What's worse, the spirit dimension seems to be crossing over into ours!

(As I played through the story, I realized two things: 1) With dozens of different types of ghosts and monsters, including some very large ones (the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man), cross dimensional travel, and a variety of incredible powers and technologies, this is more or less the Ghostbusters movie Aykroyd wanted to make in 1984, before practical or affordable technology existed to create said effects. And 2) with all the rehash from Ghostbusters I (i.e. Slimer, Stay-Puft, Gozer, Ivo Shandor, the Sedgewick Hotel, Walter Peck, the Librarian ghost, Bernstein's score, etc.), this is what Ghostbusters II could have been like if Aykroyd, Ramis, and director Ivan Reitman hadn't strived for a more original story with the same characters and setting, instead of the common practice of basically copying the first movie for the sequel. Fortunately, by taking these familiar elements and making them interactive, it mostly justifies their repetition.)

The best way I can describe the gameplay is Gears of War with Proton Packs. Action and capturing is presented in a third person, over-the-shoulder view. Busting ghosts is a three step process that involves weakening the ghost with one of your four different beams, capturing it in another, and leading it into the Ghost Trap. In between bustings, you'll use your PKE Meter to search for spirits, clues, and cursed artifacts, the latter of which open up additional upgrades for your equipment which can be purchased at any time in the pause menu. Aside from busting ghosts, you'll also solve puzzles, most of which are pretty straight forward — eventually your fellow Ghostbusters will give you tips, should you get stuck — but some can be pretty obtuse.

All things considered, I have to say the game itself is very good, but without the Ghostbusters license and Dan and Harold's sharp writing, I don't know if the gameplay would offer enough variety to warrant the purchase. If you're a Ghostbusters fan, there's plenty to love here. I do wish the game was a little bit longer. It took me about 7-7½ hours to complete on the casual difficulty. I think one more level would have helped fill out the experience. I would have liked to see a recreation of the deleted Fort Detmerring scene from the first movie. Maybe in DLC.

I've yet to try anything online, nor have I tried the stylized Wii version. I may amend this review slightly to include online later, and I'll write a separate review for the stylized version once I get to play it. As for my score right now, it applies only to the Xbox 360 single player game.

8.5
Yea: excellent production; accurate, realistic depictions of characters, locations, and equipment; voice acting; lots of movie references
Nay: a little too short; a lot of rehash from the first movie, very few references to the second; somewhat repetitive; rubbery, over-exaggerated facial animations

A solution to the PSPgo's lack of a UMD drive

There's been a lot of discussion lately about the PSPgo, its lack of a UMD drive, and the issue that presents for current PSP owners. I think I have come up with a solution that could be mutually beneficial to both Sony and the consumer. It involves the suggestion Sony has made that UMD games would be available for download.

We can assume that people with this issue already own a PSP, and play their games on UMDs (the legal way). We can also assume that those people would be interested in owning a PSPgo and downloading PSP games through the online PlayStation Store (again, the legal way). That said, here is what can be done:

Step 1. Access PlayStation Store from both PSP and PSPgo.

Step 2. Authorize both PSP and PSPgo to the PlayStation Store in a manner similar to authorizing a computer to iTunes.

Step 3. Insert UMD of desired game into PSP.

Step 4. Validate UMD disc on PlayStation Store. This unlocks an option to create a digital copy of the game (possibly requiring a reasonable licensing fee; i.e. a dollar or two)

Step 5. UMD data is downloaded onto Memory Stick in PSP, similar to installing a game on the Xbox 360 HDD. Another possibility would be that validating the disc activates a download from the PlayStation Store (This alternate solution was suggested to me by Boter of the Game Nutz Podcast). This data is now linked only to PSP units authorized by the PlayStation Network ID of the PlayStation Store account used to create the digital copy, similar to iTunes or XBLA.

Step 6. Remove Memory Stick from PSP, insert into PSPgo, and play. For added security, the game can act like a Gamertag in that it cannot exist on two storage devices at the same time, meaning it is either on a Memory Stick, or an authorized PSPgo's internal memory, and cannot be duplicated onto another device.

Problem solved. It might be a bit of a hassle at first, but once all your games are copied, you no longer need the UMDs or the PSP and can use the PSPgo exclusively. Now, hopefully Sony is paying attention.

Perfect Dark on Xbox Live Arcade!

HA! This is proof that the industry is listening to tiny independent blogs like mine! I asked for this in Part III of my List of classic Nintendo games that haven't been remade, but should be, and now it's coming! You can all thank me for this! (Please don't burst my bubble about this. I have so little!) I will be buying this game, I don't care if they charge twenty bucks for it! Though based on the pricing for Banjo-Kazooie, my guess is that it would be 1200 Microsoft Points, or $15.

Perfect Dark was a great game marred by hardware that was struggling to run it. The 360 is way over-qualified to run an N64 game, and if PD looks and plays as well as B-K did, fans are in for a real treat. Everything that was broken about the N64 original should be fixed in the XBLA release. Stunted framerate? Fixed! Burry textures? Fixed! Scratchy dialog? Fixed! Convoluted level design? Well, maybe not everything. Unfortunately, the only graphical upgrade will be the hi-deffing of the original graphics, but while I'd rather see the game redone with modern graphics, it will still be nice to see a good ol' brunette Joanna Dark in all her low-poly glory. I just hope they provide an alternative way of unlocking the cheats. I hate speedruns!

Still, as long as online multiplayer doesn't break the fantastic local multiplayer of the original, I can see this giving Halo a run for its money. Just watch out for those KaziSims!

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned — Extended Play

It's been a very long time since my First Impressions. Ironically, blogging is eating into my gaming time, so I'll keep this brief. Most of my gaming time, both at home and on-the-go, has been with Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. You can read my full review for that by clicking here.

As for GTA4:TLAD, more of the same pretty much describes the gameplay here. There seems to be a lot more shooting in TLAD than there was in IV, which is fine, except it can get repetitive after a while. The "improved" bike physics aren't improved enough. I still can't power slide around corners on a bike the way I can in a car. I tend to slide sideways for several yards and slamming into a wall before I start moving in the direction I'm facing. Unfortunately, a lot of missions require a bike, or at least make it inconvenient to use anything else.

The new weapons are nice. I'd rather have the desert eagle than the semi-automatic pistol that replaced it, but the rapid-fire automatic shotgun is hot, and the grenade launcher is much easier to use on ground targets than the old RPG.

The story has improved, as have the characters. I've also reached a point where I can call a couple of my Lost brothers for back-up, which comes in handy during missions, or even just mischief making. There was one mission I failed twice, so on my third try I called for back-up while on my way to the objective, and by the time I got there my brothers were by my side, ready for action.

I'm going to try to get this game finished by the end of the month. Hopefully, I'm further in the game than I think I am.

Too much motion, not enough action

When Nintendo's Project Revolution was announced, they promised gamers a new way to play; one that would enhance the gaming experience for the hardcore, but also provide an intuitive point of entry for casual and non gamers. This "Revolution" turned out to be the Wii. Its motion sensing controls made a huge impact on the industry, and since its release it has been the best selling system of this console generation.

Now everyone is vying for a piece of Nintendo's pie. For the PlayStation 3, Sony released the SIXAXIS, a wireless Dual Analog controller with motion sensing capabilities; though the motion controls have only been used in a handful of games, and often to much criticism. Last year, Microsoft rolled out the New Xbox Experience (NXE), a new, streamlined version of the Xbox 360's Dashboard. This update featured, among other enhancements, Avatars: customizable cartoony characters similar to Nintendo's Miis. This year at E3, both companies revealed their biggest move towards imitating the Wii's winning formula: full motion control. Each company has come up with their own variation, but they both have one common goal: to take sales away from the Wii. Can mo-con be the final, go-to solution to market domination? Or will these devices end up adding to the long list of failed after-market peripherals?

Here are the issues:

• The Wii has already found its niche market; so have the Xbox 360 and the PS3. Whenever a company tries to expand into another's territory, they run the risk of alienating their established market. We've already heard some of the outcry from the Xbox community about their push for more casual gamers.


• The 360, and especially the PS3, are more expensive than the Wii (though the 360 Arcade bundle is cheaper). If they're hoping to capture the Wii's market, they need to match the Wii's price, remembering that motion controls are an additional accessory, meaning additional cost.


• The Wii already has a head start on motion games. The 360 and the PS3 will need a strong introductory library of motion games if they want to compete with the Wii's 2½ year library (probably more like four, by the time the competition hits retail). They'll also need first and third party killer apps like Nintendo's Wii Sports, EA's Boom Blox or Sega's MadWorld in order to sell mo-con to the masses.

Even if Microsoft and Sony can overcome all these obstacles, there's still one gigantic hurtle: The Wii experience is not just about motion controls, nor is it about casual games, nor price, nor gaming icons, nor any one factor, nor even the combination of factors. It's about the whole package. The Wii was shipped with everything it needed for the whole experience: a console, a controller (Remote and Nunchuk), 6 casual games, motion control set-up, all the required hook-ups, and internal memory for storage… all for under $300. For another $50, consumers could buy another Remote and 9 more casual games. They also did all this 2½ years ago, when the competition was $400 or more, meaning they already have an edge on the market. Plus, there are really no other accessories required to play most games, and with the exception of the Balance Board (which comes with its required game), and Rock Band/Guitar Hero instruments (included with special edition packages of their respective games), most other accessories are under $20.

Project Natal is expected to be "under $100," according to a Microsoft rep, and that's in addition to the cost of the console. Sony hasn't mentioned a price for their PlayStation Motion Controller yet, but we already know it requires the $40 PlayStation Eye, and the $400 PS3. And unlike the Wii, there's no guarantee either will even be supported beyond the first year. Add-ons rarely get massive support, because the developers can't depend on enough users having them to make it worth the cost of learning how to code for them, and producing the games. Nintendo has learned this lesson the hard way, repeatedly. If you ask me, Microsoft's and Sony's best hope is to sell their motion control to hardcore gamers, and hope they have casual gamers in the family who'd want to use it.

At E3, Sony starts moving, and it's the PSP's time to go

So no surprise here: Sony's got a Motion Controller in the works too. As I've mentioned before on my blog, I do not own a PlayStation 3 yet (drop the price a couple hundred dollars, then we'll talk), but I am intrigued at their entry in the "mo-con" phenomenon (hey, that rhymes… copyright!). It basically does out of the box what the Wii Remote can do with the MotionPlus add-on. Combine that with the PS3's HD graphics and they could be onto something here… but who's their target audience with a $400 system? I'll expound on that in a later post.

They also revealed the fourth iteration of the PlayStation Portable, the PSPgo. This will be the most radically different version of the PSP thus far, though it is not a successor to the hardware. It will feature a cell phone like pop-up screen (smaller than other PSP screens) that reveals a new controller layout, including a better protected, and less convenient, analog nub. The PSPgo features 16GB of internal flash memory, which makes up for the biggest change in the system's design: no UMD drive. That's right, everything will be download only on this PSP. Sony has yet to reveal any concrete plans for how (or if) you can transfer your UMD games onto the PSPgo's memory. We all knew the UMD was a dead format, but I don't think anyone ever expected Sony would make their own games obsolete on the system for which they were deisigned. I'm more than a little wary of this, but fortunately I still have my PSP-2000 on which to play my legally purchased UMD games.

Sony also revealed an impressive line-up for their floundering portable:

Gran Turismo Mobile
Tekken 6
SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny
Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier

To be honest, the only one of these games that interests me is SoulCalibur, but it's nice to see Sony hasn't completely forgotten their flawed-but-still-fun handheld. I'm still waiting for Rockstar to try to squeeze a version of San Andreas onto the PSP like they did with the rest of their GTA3 universe games. Perhaps this push for a downloadable format will yield games like that, which would probably take up more than the UMD's 1.8GB capacity.

For the PS3, they showed off God of War III, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Gran Turismo 5 (the full game, not the $40 demo they released last year), among other games which were mostly multi-platform.

So that's Sony in a nutshell. If you want additional information about those games and more, read the GamerCast Network, Joystiq, GameSpot, or some other site that actually attended the event. I'm just commenting on what I've seen and heard on the internet. Maybe someday, I'll be getting the scoop first hand…

Anywho, keep checking for more E3 information and commentaries as I find out more, and check back soon for an editorial on recent announcements!

Microsoft moves into your home at E3

For my coverage of Microsoft's E3 highlights, let's just shine a spotlight on the elephant in the room. We all saw this coming, we just weren't sure how. The Xbox is getting motion control. In a promo video that looked suspiciously like a Wii commercial, Microsoft revealed Project Natal, the code name for their new motion and sound sensing technology. The video showed a typical American family (or at least what marketing execs like to assume is the typical American family) gathering around the TV, playing a variety of games, from racing and fighting, to sports and trivia, without using any controllers.

The trick is a device by the TV that looks like a Wii Sensor Bar with cybernetic enhancements (which leads me to wonder where I'm supposed to put this thing when I already have my Wii hooked up). This device contains a stereo camera and a microphone. Apparently the device has facial and voice recognition abilities, and only sees objects that are moving (like a T. Rex?). The binocular vision allows it to perceive depth and therefore, distance. It also can read body movement and position, creating a form of motion capture. No word yet on release date or price, but I'd wager this holiday season for $50-75. I can't say I'm wholeheartedly for or against this move, but if it works the way they claim it does, it could be interesting to say the least.

Microsoft also announced partnerships with Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm, plus long-overdue enhancements to their NetFlix app., including a movie party mode. Of course, these are all geared towards the casual/non-gamers (most of whom, I'd argue, probably already own a Wii and are not interested in throwing down $200-300 for another game system). For the hardcore gamers, we get two Halo games from Bungie: the previously announced and indefinitely delayed Halo 3: ODST, and a new game entitled Halo: Reach, which looks to be a prequel to the existing Halo games. They also released a trailer for the long-awaited Alan Wake. I know very little about this game, execept that it's from Remedy Entertainment, the developers of Max Payne and Max Payne 2, and I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be an Xbox 360 launch title.

Aside from Project Natal and Halo: Reach, Microsoft didn't really drop any megatons as far as I'm concerned, but it certainly wasn't a bad showing. I'll wait and see what Natal has to offer before passing judgement. Like anything else, it's not the technology that's important, but how it's used. Motion controls in recent years have been hit or miss. Just look at all the crap we've seen for the Wii and the EyeToy/PlayStation Eye.

So that will wrap up my Microsoft E3 highlights. I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with a new post on Sony's big announcements.

Nintendo returns at E3!

Normally I carry a notebook with me and I draft out my blogs there; during downtime at work, while out for a bite, shopping, cleaning, visiting, what-have-you. It gives me a chance to jot down ideas, fine-tune my wording, and flesh out the article as a whole before I sit down at my computer and type them up in my spare time. I have a few in the works right now, as a matter of fact.

This afternoon I returned home from running errands to find my Wii glowing (meaning I had a new message, for you non-Wii-owners). I finished putting groceries away, sat down in my living room, and booted up my Wii while doing a little organizing of my gaming ottoman (best… present… ever). I checked my messages and saw some very exciting news. Nintendo was showing some of their E3 videos on the Nintendo Channel. Cool, I thought to myself, I don't have to go searching the internet or listening to hours of podcasts to see what Nintendo have revealed. I opened the Nintendo Channel and waited for it to load. I expected to see keynotes, tech demos, maybe a few promo videos of Wii Sports Resort, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, and the Metroid Prime Trilogy. I couldn't believe what I saw instead…

New Super Mario Bros. Wii!
Super Mario Galaxy 2!
Metroid: Other M!

Megatons of Nintendo fangasm! I have to give credit to Parris from TalkingAboutGames.com and UncleGamer Radio for calling this one last E3. He had predicted that 2008 was going to be the year of the casual gamer, but that Nintendo wasn't forgetting their hardcore audience, and that 2009 would see the return of Nintendo's leading franchises. I believed him then, and I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed. Everything is here: A new Zelda game, two new Mario games (that's not counting sequels to the Mario & Luigi RPG series and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, also revealed at E3), and a brand new Metroid game, developed by none other than Team Ninja! I was so blown away by these reveals that I dropped what I was doing, and started typing this up immediately, without any pre-planning!

This is has me ecstatic. Hopefully there are enough Nintendo fans holding onto their Wiis (umm… that didn't sound right) to make these games truly successful. I had a feeling Nintendo would be pouring the money they've made off of their cheap casual games into some new hardcore ones. Metroid looks especially cool. With its cinematic presentation and third-person view, it might give the Metroid Prime Trilogy a run for its money. I'm actually a little bit surprised they didn't wait until after the NPC versions launched before announcing this.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii should be a worthy addition to the series. While the graphics don't really look much better than the DS game, it won't really matter if it plays as well as that one did. Besides, I think the "whooping" and "wheeing" (or should that be "Wii-ing?") that comes from playing a Mario game co-op with up to three other people makes up for the lack of "oohing" and "ahhing" at spectacular graphics.

The only thing that I find a little disappointing is Super Mario Galaxy 2. While the original SMG is an amazing game (I say "is" because I actually haven't beaten it yet), Mario games are noted for not usually repeating what has been done before. That doesn't mean SMG2 will be a bad game. Even the worst Mario platformers, 3D or 2D, are head and shoulders above most other games in the genre. Still, I would have liked to see the next 3D Mario game go in a different direction. I suppose the "Galaxy" theme allows for more variety in the worlds Mario explores, meaning more variety within the games rather than between the games.

So that's Nintendo for this year. Bravo. I've yet to see or read anything on Microsoft's or Sony's press conferences, or any of the software developers'. I'll post about them when I see them. However, since I am not currently employed by any gaming publications or media outlets, I'll only be posting on what I find interesting or exciting. If you've got anything to contribute, feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email. Right now I'm going to go play some Super Mario Galaxy to get myself psyched up!

MadWorld - First Impressions

A good friend of mine bought MadWorld on day one. I watched him play one level and was intrigued. Not only by the high-contrast graphics and the over-the-top violence; not just the unique motion controls and variety of combat; but also the fact that MadWorld was published by the typically E-T rated Sega. Being the frugal gamer I am (read: poor), I decided to wait for a price drop before diving into this blood-filled pool.

It was worth the wait. MadWorld is a game without a modern comparison. The first thing you'll notice are the stark, Sin City inspired graphics. In fact, everything in the game is in high-contrast black & white, with the only colors being yellow for highlighted objects, and of course, red for all the blood. (If you have an HDTV, you'll also notice there's no progressive scan support, probably because the added clarity would have made the minimalist graphics look too jagged.)

But what do graphics matter of the gameplay is bad? No worries there. Here is the best way I can describe it: Take any late '80s/early 90s arcade beat'em-up, subtract all color, add lots of blood and profanity, plus motion controls, multiply by the third dimention, and you have MadWorld. If you're interested in creating your own MadWorld, here's the formula:

Beat'em up - RGB + (O+) + !%$# + Wii × 3D = MadWorld

The story (not that it matters) takes place on an island that has become isolated from the rest of the city. You play as Jack Cayman, who is "sponsored" to play in a literal deathmatch reality show. If you are still thinking after that, stop. You can keep the logical thought part of your brain switched off for the remainder of the game — at least for the first couple of levels, anyway. I haven't gotten any further than that yet.

Buttons are used for punching, grabbing, activating your chainsaw arm (Did I mention you have a chainsaw attached to your arm? Because you do.), and locking onto enemies. Everything else is motion controlled. You can throw, impale, bind, slam, bifurcate, and otherwise maim, dismember, and murder your enemies, all with a little context sensitive waggling. Deathtraps like spikes, dumpsters, trains, and yes, even toilets are scattered throughout the levels, providing opportunities for some spectacularly gory kills. Motion controls are intuitive and forgiving, and rarely do anything you don't want them to do, and on-screen prompts ensure you don't forget what you are doing.

My biggest issue so far is the lack of camera control, which often makes locking onto enemies and aiming your throws difficult. Some bonus games require you to toss enemies in some sort of deathtrap, which seems easy enough, until you realize that no one is flying where you want them. There's also no quick turnaround, which combined with the camera issue can make close combat with multiple enemies a bit of a pain. Fortunately, the difficultly level at this point in the game is forgiving, and not killing your enemy immediately is rarely a major problem.

The game progresses through a point system. Different attacks earn you different amounts of points. The more variety you apply to your kills, the more points you get. Throughout the levels there are Blood Bath Challenges, which are exactly what they sound like. A special, extra large deathtrap will appear, and your job is to throw, push, carry, or pummel your opponents to their ultimate demise. The more you can kill at a time, the more points you earn. Once you reach a certain amount of points, the next area opens until you achieve enough points to face the level's final boss. I've only faced two bosses so far, but they were challenging enough, and certainly big enough, to make for an exciting battle.

WadWorld is a perfect example of what I'd call a hardcore casual game. The mechanics are simple enough for just about anyone to play, but the game's content will turn off most casual gamers. If you're a Wii owner and consider yourself a hardcore gamer, or are even curious about MadWorld, you owe it to yourself and gamers like you to buy this game, if only to convince publishers that there is a hardcore market on the Wii.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars — Final Thoughts

I actually finished Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars' story sooner than I had expected. The campaign was surprisingly short, but long enough that it was able to tell its banal story sufficiently. I'll spare you having to reread my comments and criticisms from my First Impressions and Extended Play (if you really want to, click the links), suffice to say, the game's strengths and weaknesses remained consistent throughout. The story's ending was predictable and anticlimactic, but the levels leading up to it were appropriately epic, including a rocket-launcher-armed battle against an Annihilator attack chopper.

Once the credits roll and the game save, the city is your playground. Dealers stay in their locations and continue to send you trade tips. Ammu-Nation will still have weekly (in-game time) sales, and any security cameras or random strangers will still be there for you to find. One new goal that only gets unlocked after completing the story mode are the Lions of Fo, two golden statues hidden somewhere in the city (it's random for every game) which unlock something once they're found. (I won't spoil what it is, except that you shouldn't trade in your game quite yet.

Actually, I've found more useful items and missions since I finished the story mode than I did during the campaign itself. I discovered that CW has its own version of Achievements, but unlike the Xbox versions, these are actually useful, gaining you special bonuses like double body armor, regenerating health, bullet-proof cars, and more. For example, complete all the Paramedic missions, and you'll earn infinite sprinting. Ironically, this means you'd actually be better off completing these extra tasks before starting the main missions if you want to take full advantage of their benefits. Even still, they provide goals to strive for after completing the story.

Overall, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was, and still is, worth the money. If you're a fan of previous GTA games, especially the ones on the PS1 and PS2, you'll feel right at home with CW's lighter tone and varied gameplay. I've yet to try its multiplayer options out — maybe I'll append this review once I get the chance — but for a single player experience, there are very few DS game I could recommend more. CW will remain in my DS for a long time to come.

9.5
Yea: huge, detailed city to explore; tons of missions and bonuses; drug trading eliminates the money problem, and makes for a fun distraction; witty dialog
Nay: short, boring story; unreliable aiming; speeding through the city not nearly as fun as the console GTAs

(Even more) Classic Nintendo games that haven't been remade, but should be; Part III

Finally, the long awaited Part III of my list. For those of you who are discovering this for the first time, you might want to start at the beginning by clicking here.

11. Perfect Dark — (This game falls into a strange position, because the publishing rights are no longer owned by Nintendo, but since the game was originally released for the N64, it still counts for this list.) When Rare released GoldenEye 007 for the N64 two years after the movie was released, MGM pulled the rights for them to make more Bond games, despite the game's critical acclaim and enormous commercial success. This did not deter Rare, however, from making another first person stealth shooter using the GoldenEye engine, which would vastly expand on the familiar gameplay of its predecessor. Perfect Dark boasted hi-res graphics (for the time), dynamic lighting effects, full voice acting, Dolby Pro Logic surround sound, and the most advanced AI ever seen in a console FPS. Unfortunately, the aging hardware was not always able to keep up with the new technology, and gameplay suffered as a result. The game itself was still incredible, and while a long-awaited sequel was eventually released for the Xbox 360, it failed to live up to the standards of the original. Most recently, Rare and new parent Microsoft have been campaigning for a simultaneous release of GoldenEye on both Wii Shop Channel and Xbox Live Arcade, but cannot agree with Nintendo on the financial details. Personally, I think Perfect Dark's improved gameplay, especially its multiplayer options, would be better suited for a modern rerelease. They could finally fix the framerate issue once and for all, and actually have a decent Perfect Dark game on the 360!
    
    (UPDATE: I discovered Perfect Dark was actually published by Rare, not Nintendo. Technically, Rare was owned by Nintendo at the time so I'm not removing it from the list, but I wanted to be clear that while this kind of bends my own rule, it fits my interpretation of it.)



12. Super Mario 64 — When Super Mario 64 came out, it changed the face of gaming forever. 3D gaming was here to stay. As always with pioneers, its technological advances have been superseded in the 15 years since its release. It is time Nintendo remade one of the best Mario games ever. Sure, there was Super Mario 64 DS, but that was more of a port with very few graphical or gameplay enhancements. (Actually, the lack of true analog controls was a bit of a step backwards.) I would much rather play a SM64 "WiiMake" with Super Mario Galaxy graphics, Zelda-esque motion controls for punching, and tilt sensor controls for flying. Or, if you prefer, the good ol' GameCube controller. They can keep Luigi as a playable character, but lose Yoshi and Wario. They don't fit in, they're kind of annoying, and it made the game feel too much like Sonic Adventures.



13. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time — Another classic from the N64 era, The Legend of Zelda's first foray into the 3D realm was long awaited, and eagerly anticipated. From its first appearance at Nintendo's Space World in '95 (less than a year before the N64 itself was released), to its arrival in gold cartridges in fall of '98, it went through several overhauls, not to mention delays. What resulted was a practically perfect game, and one that gained a single digit spot on most gamers' and gaming publications' "Top x Games of All Time" lists. Ocarina pushed the N64 to its limits more than just about any other game that did not require the Expansion Pak. It was everything a Zelda game should be, and so much more; and it looked incredible… for the time. Twilight Princess has since painted a much more detailed picture of Hyrule, and after trying to play OoT on my HDTV with the Wii and component video cables, I have to say, it does not fare well in 480p. It wouldn't take much to fix that. Here's what you do: Select all graphics, cut and paste in TP's visuals. Add in some Wii Remote slashing and shooting and you've got a classic Zelda game that fits perfectly on modern technology. (Hopefully they can do it without having to completely mirror the whole game!)



14. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures — Here's a great game that fell by the wayside thanks to the unbelievable amount of crap required to play it as intended: A GameCube, the game disc, 4 Game Boy Advance systems, 4 GameCube-Game Boy Advance Link Cables, and four people who can cooperate long enough to accomplish simple tasks without trying to throw each other into hazards and stealing force gems. Once all these essential components came together however, you had a multiplayer experience that stood alongside Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. for sheer enjoyment. The story was a resounding "meh," but who really cares when you're busy attacking enemies and solving puzzles with three of your friends, while simultaneously competing for the most force gems? Not I! This game doesn't even need a graphical update. The enhanced 16-bit style graphics and sound were perfect for the game, but the interface was atrocious. The DS can connect to the Wii wirelessly, and everybody in the world owns at least one DS. (I myself have owned a total of four, but that's another story.) Heck, they could even cut the Wii out of the equation entirely if they wanted and just put it on the DS.



15. Metroid 3: Super Metroid — I originally had no intentions of including Super Metroid on this list. I mean, why remake a game that's already considered perfect by most gamers? Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'm just going to let THIS speak for itself. Throw in the mission objective markers introduced in Metroid Prime and Fusion and you've just managed to make a perfect game even better!

So, there's my list. I invite everyone to add their own additions in the comments section. Remember the rules listed in Part II. If I can come up with enough other games, I'll make a Part IV, but for now, I'm retiring this series. Hope you all enjoyed it!