Currently Playing: Cube/Wii

During the week I'm a Cube gamer:

- Mario Kart Double Dash!!;

- Metroid Prime 2: Echoes;

- TimeSplitters 2;

- Beyond Good & Evil (coming soon);

Then during the weekend I'm a Wii gamer:

- Okami;

- No More Heroes;

- De Blob;

- FIFA08 (can't seem to stop playing this one!);

- Mario Kart Wii;

- Opoona;

- Guitar Hero: World Tour;

- Dewy's Adventure.

I have so many Wii games on my backlog I'm starting to worry. The Conduit and Madworld are on the horizon and I have 'em preordered. I want to have completed all of the above by March!

Roo

PS: No More Heroes/Okami are just incredible!

What can Wii expect in 2009?

It seems that 2009 is going to be a GREAT year for Wii owners all over the world from third parties but I am absolutely positive that there will be several new announcements that we did not expect from Nintendo. After all, they have yet to announce a blockbuster title for 2009 no? I am going to put on my "hopeful", "optimistic", "pessimistic" and "dream" goggles for this feature. Hope you enjoy it and please feel free to leave comments in the comments sect

ion [duh!] below!

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1. Metroid Prime & Prime: Echoes released as part of the "New Play Control" series.

This year Nintendo unvieled it's plans to release old GameCube titles with Wii controls. Some of them, like Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, is going to feature not only brand new controls but also completely new levels giving owners of the GCN version incetive to purchase it. Right now, if I remember correctly, only three games have been announced for this scheme - the aforementioned Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Pikmin and Mario Power Tennis. I am almost 100% sure that we will see the first two games in the Metroid Prime series to release using this scheme as well. Why? Well I believe that there two games can benefit so much by giving them Prime 3-esque controls. I would also gladly pruchase a "Collector's Edition" with all three games boxed in one with some art work or Samus figurine (come on Nintendo, you know you want to!). Giving these games Wii controls is enough reason for me to pruchase them again. I wouldn't mind if Nintendo added some extra content though. Who wouldn't love to see Prime 2's multiplayer going online with Wii controls? Count me in!

NB: We could also see The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker as well as Super Mario Sunshine released with Wii controls. I doubt we'll see Mario Kart Double Dash since Mario Kart Wii is still selling like crazy.

2. Second tier IPs get their time to shine on the Wii.

Super Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Mario Kart and Smash Bros. - Nintendo's biggest IPs have already seen successful releases on the Wii. So what can we expect now from Nintendo? A new Zelda or Mario? I hope not. Don't jump on me just yet. Hear me out. Why do we want another Mario or Zelda? Can't we wait another year or two? Sure we can! Nintendo has loads of other IPs for us. I am still waiting for an annoucement of an F-Zero Wii game. Who wouldn't want to race at 400km/h online? I believe that Kirby Wii is also in development plus IGN's Matt Cassamassina has hinted (understatement ahoy!) several times that Factor 5 is developing a Kid Icarus Wii titles. I have my doubts that it will be released now since Factor 5 has apparently gone bust. Shame, considering what Factor 5 was apparently able to do on Wii (see video below - please note that this is still a rumour). Please Nintendo, if this is true, buy Factor 5's engine and develop Kid Icarus yourself! Or hire all the Factor 5 people... or simply buy Factor 5!

NB: I have not forgotten about Punch Out!! Wii or Sin & Punishment 2 but I am only mentioning games internally developed by Nintendo. I am eagerly awaiting the release of both of those games just like most of you! I also know that F-Zero is usually developed by Sega even though it's a Nintendo-owned franchise. I HOPE that Nintendo does not butcher it to make it accessible to new players, but I do hope that they incorporate the same excellent online experience as the one in Mario Kart Wii - with WiiSpeak functionality that is!

3. Annoucement of first-party WiiWare titles.

I know that we already have some mild first party WiiWare titles. What I mean is that we could see the announcement, and hopefully release, of a new Metroid game - in 2D, with overly gorgeous had-drawn sprites and out of this world animation. I also hope to see a WiiWare release (DS might do as well) for New Super Mairo Bros. 2. I mean how has this game not been announced yet? NSMB was a MASSIVE hit and I don't see why Nintendo hasn't even hinted yet at a sequel. 

NB: I am listing only these two since I believe that these two have extremely large potential to be AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA titles in 2D and WiiWare seems like the perfect way to do it.

4. Brand new IP from Nintendo.

This generation Nintendo have given us three new IPs already - WiiMusic, WiiSports and WiiFit. WiiSports Resort, sequel to WiiSports, has already been confirmed for a 2009 release. These are all great and all but were are the epic new IPs from Nintendo this generation? During the GCN we got Pikmin - at excellent take on the stratedy genre from Nintendo. During the N64 days we got Smash Bros. We're entering Wii's third year and yet there hasn't been even a hint of a new IP from Nintendo.

5. Pikmin 3.

Quite self explenatory no? It's been a long time coming but we could make an educated guess that we could see it during next E3 now that it has got its 'big event' status again.

6. Totally outrageous announcements from Nintendo.

Wii 2 with HD in 2010? Wii with HDD SKU? DS 2 with PS3 graphics and Xbox Live online? Ok the last one was a little over the top but who's to say that Nintendo won't annouce it. We've come to expect this stuff from Nintendo now and I fully expect to be shocked and disappointed/happy with Nintendo's 2009 surprise annoucnements.

7. More and more major third-party IPs (old and new) make their way onto the Wii.

We already know that a plethora of major third-party games are being made for the Wii like Dragon Quest X, Monster Hunter 3 and a Tales mothership title but I truly believe that next year more and more titles will be announced for the Wii. We already know about Capcom's Spyborgs, a brand new IP exclusively for the Wii. I would LOVE to see a Burnout iteration on a Nintendo platform for once. Plus rumour has it that Criterion Games are already developing Black 2 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. I would be disappointed, and frankly CG would be stupid, if they don't develop it for the Wii as well. CG, for some reason, seems to hate the Wii. If they don't hate money they should at least consider spin-offs. 

Free Radical, if they're not going bust as well, should also have Timesplitters 4 in development for Wii if rumours are to be believed. Komani and EA are also working on major exclusive games for the Wii that have yet to be announced and I expect Ubisoft has something as well apart from Red Steel 2.

8. If developers do go bust, Nintendo would either buy them or recruit some of their developers.

I sure hope so at least. It would be a shame if not. 'Nuff said.

9. New epic franchises from Retro Studios and Camelot Software Planning.

Retro studios are responslible for the GameCube's best game, Metroid Prime and the one of the Wii's too, Metroid Prime 3. I'd love to see what they're working on. I'm sure that this time it will be a new IP and hopefully, it will blow our brains out.

Camelot's best games are also GBA classics: Golden Sun and its sequel Golden Sun The Lost Age. A third game will surely follow someday (or so I've been saying since 2004) but an RPG from Camelot on the Wii has been hinted since 2006. The series needs a revival and I sure hope to see it, even in simple announcement form, in 2009.

10. A major new Wii update.

Seriously what major  updates have we got since the Wii released? Except from the added clock or the added transfer speeds what else did we get? Nothing. In January Nintendo will release an update that lets us save everything on an SD card as well as access it through the SD card as well but I want a major update. Maybe a GUI overhaul? Or WiiSpeak channel functionality during games? This would make older games that do not support the featre much much better! I expect Nintendo to advance their online infrastructure and the Wii's communication capabilities. 

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I know that none of the above could come true. I also know that they could all come true. I do know that 2009 is going to be a blast and a time for Nintendo to 'redeem' itself after an abysmal 2008 (not counting SSBB and MKWii).

Roo

Why the hardcore/casual claims are nothing but a myth.

We have been hearing that this is casual, that that is hardcore and so on since all of the current generation of consoles were released. I never believed those claims. To be honest I didn't want to since I always fancied myself to be a hardcore gamer - but I wanted a Wii. In these current times hardcore and Wii don't go together in the same sentence unless it's in the negative. Two years since the launch of the Wii and the word casual is being used more often than the name of the console itself. 

Here's my story and how I came to the conclusion that in fact there is no such thing as a hardcore/casual game/gamer. 

Even though the Wii's launch line-up was anything but stellar and even though I had already purchased Twilight Princess on the GameCube I still bought the Wii - along with Twilight Princess and WiiPlay for the extra controller in February of 2007. After a good 5 hours with it I concluded that in fact I was not a hardcore gamer because I was having tons of fun with WiiSports. Plus my dad, who turns 69 in February, played WiiSports Tennis as well; the first time in his life he ever touched a videogame controller!

Although I noticed two major differences in the way my dad played WiiSports and the way I played it. My dad only touched it if he was playing against someone else and for 10-minute bursts only whereas I, on the other hand, played it to death. I got a 'Pro' level on every sport, unlocked every Training mode and beat my own high scores several times.

So is Wii Sports casual? If you only saw my dad play and how he played it then yes the game is casual. It is hardcore then? It could be since I played the crap out of it for hours on end. But it is neither casual nor hardcore - and for that matter no videogame is. It's in the way you play it.

Let's take another sports title as an example and I will elaborate more on my claim then. Electronic Arts releases yearly version of almost all popular sports for all available platforms. It's FIFA games are yearly top sellers despite have very minor differences from yesteryear's version. Last year I took the plunge and bought FIFA08 on the Wii without doing any research on it whatsoever before. If I did, I wouldn't have bought it. Why? It had one of it's most prominent modes missing - Manager Mode. I was pretty disappointed, barely playing it more that 30 minutes daily. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

See the difference? The way I played the games Wii Sports ended up being so called 'hardcore' whereas FIFA08 ended up being 'casual'. What we must understand is that the games themselves are not casual or hardcore, it's the way we play them. Even the most violent and complex of shooters can be casual. How you may ask? By playing it for a few minutes every once in a while without being obsessed on your score/perks etc.

Today I play WiiSports casually - only when my niece wants to have a round of WiiBowling. Same goes for Medal of Honor Heroes 2. When I bought it I used to spend hours online trying to go higher up in the leaderboards. Today I pop it in for a couple of deathmatches when I'm in the mood for some well timed headshots.

I am not denying the fact that some games are tailored for specific gamers. For example I would never buy Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts but I'd love to buy LittleBigPlanet. Both are platformers, but LBP has that 'it' factor that appeals to me. Although I LOVE the Wii, I didn't, and don't plan to, buy Wii Fit. It doesn't appeal to me whatsoever. If it were simply a casual game it would have appealed to me since I loved other casual games like Wii Sports but I didn't.

Guitar Hero/Rock Band are excellent examples of how false the casual/hardcore mythe is. My girlfriend played Guitar Hero On Tour (DS version) for a couple of times, beating two or three songs and that's it. Where as I completed it on all difficulties with a 5 star rating. Other franchises spring to mind like Mario Kart and Animal Crossing. My girlfriend, or a "casual gamer" would never even try to get 3-star rating on the 150cc cups; so on and so forth.

I'll try not to sound too cheesy but if you are a true gamer, for you there should only be the games - not the systems. When I read comments like "I will never buy the Wii because it's too casual" I seriously get the urge to punch someone on the face. Don't let stubbornness, blind brand loyalty or the media distract you from what we all truly love - the games. You can play ANY game casually or in a hardcore way believe it or not.

Roo

PS: In 2002, Grand Theft Auto 3 was branded as a casual game played by casual gamers. Today, Grand Theft Auto 4 is hailed as a hardcore game where the only major difference between the too is the graphics. Funny that.

What Wii can look forward to in 2009!

Well 2008 is practially over so what do Wii [see what I did there?! Twice too! =)] have to look forward to next year? Plenty actually and I'm going to list the very best right here followed by video footage. After a disappointing 2008, 2009 is looking magnificent.

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1. MadWorld

Developer: Platinum Games

Publisher: Sega

What makes it so special?

The visuals. What you think a Wii game can't look good? This looks magnificent! The style is out of this world plus the gameplay looks like tons of fun. Just watch for yourself.

2. Sin & Punishment 2

Developer: Treasure

Publisher: Nintendo

What makes it so special?

This one is truly a surprise and a present so-to-speak from Nintendo. The first one was released on the N64 in Japan only and just recently released worldwide on the Wii's Virtual Console. It's an on-rails shoot with over the top combat and impossibly large boss battles. Utilising the Wii's pointer for the obvious this is sure to be a big hit.

3. Monster Hunter 3

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

What makes it so special?

A montser hunting [duh!] RPG that has proved time and time again that it's a system seller in Japan. The rest of the world has since been left out but fans of the series as well as R

PG lovers are begging Capcom to release it WW. Hope we see it here in Europe as well.

4. Another Code 2 (Trace Memory R)

Developer: Cing Inc.

Publisher: Nintendo

What makes it so special?
This one is more of a fan favourite and a personal favourite of mine. The original Another Code was a first generation release on the Nintendo DS. AC was point-and-click adventure which rejuvinated the dead genre. The new one looks better than ever and I'm psyched for the sequel. I couldn't find a trailer for this game so sorry for that. I have a lovely pic for you though!

5. Fragile

Developer: tri-Crescendo

Publisher: BandaiNamco

What makes it so special?

Another JRPG for Wii owners worldwide. This one promises to thread on the survival-horror genre as well. Here's a direct quote from it's Wiki page:

Fragile is set in a post-apocalyptic near future world that has lost its light and is covered in a dense fog. Almost all the world's population has vanished, and the cities have been left abandoned. The game places the player in the shoes of Seto, a young boy.

Seto wanders the world, searching for survivors and the answers behind the disappearance of everyone else. Seto also searches for a mysterious girl named "Ren." In his quest he must deal with ghosts and demons that lurk within the ruins of the abandoned cities. Despite this, the producer of the game insists that Fragile is not a survival horror in the same vein as Silent Hill, rather it will focus on "human drama".

The world of Fragile will be filled with objects, sketches and short stories for the player to examine. Each artifact holds the memories of its former owner, and offers back story and hints to the player. A competition will be held where readers of gaming magazines can send in their own sketches and short stories to be included in the game.

6. The Conduit

Developer: High Voltage Software

Publisher: Sega

What makes it so special?

Personally this is the game I'm most looking forward to in 2009. It's a FPS-(Wii owner)-fan's wet dream. Promising to be the best looking game on Wii (and from trailers I have to agree), supporting 16-player online matches, WiiSpeak and WiiMotion+. I love it so much that I'm going to post two trailers for it!

7. Wii Sports: Resort

Developer: Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

What makes it so special?

Wii Sports came packaged with the Wii and although it was fun for a while I doubt anyone is still playing it solo. The sequel promises to be much better plus it will be packaged with the WiiMotion+. The WM+ is a tiny "chip" that plugs in the WiiRemote to give it true 1:1 motion. Honestly, the WiiRemote should have come packaged with this from the very beginning. Anyway better late than never.

8. Sonic & The Black Knight

Developer: Sega

Publisher: Sega

What makes it so special?

Sequel to the warmly received Sonic & the Secret Rings, S&TBK promises to eclipse it's predecessor in everything. Gorgeous settings, interesting gameplay and an intriguing story this Sonic outing will be a blast!

9. No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle

Developer: Grasshopper

Publisher: Ubisoft

What makes it so special?
Another favourite of mine NMH:DS is a sequel to one of Wii's best games to date, No More Heroes. Travis Touchdown is back to his badass self ready to kill whatever comes in his path. DS will have better stylised visual than it's predecessor plus Sude51 promised a darker, more mature storyline. I just HOPE Travis doesn't loose his over-the-top humour in DS.

10. Fatal Frame 4

Developer(s): Temco/Grasshopper/Nintendo

Publisher: Nintendo

What makes it so special?
Just look at the developer(s)! This game gets an automatic AAA-status. The forth enty in the popular horror series Fatal Frame will surly benefit from the Wii's motion controls (WiiRemote+Nunchuck combo). Plus it's being released here in Europe before America!!

11. Punch-Out!! (Wii)

Developer: Next Level Games

Publisher: Nintendo

What makes it so special?

This is pure fan-service from Nintendo. The original Punch-Out!! was released on the NES in 1987 and fans of the series (a lot) have been crying for a sequel ever since. Well, Nintendo's delivering and it definitely looks interesting!

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Honourable Mentions:

Click on each title for it's trailer and/or screenshot. Thanks to Devil_Rising from GoNintendo for the list that follows!

1. Little King's Story:

A fun-looking strategy game - a mesh of Pikmin and World of Warcraft if you will!

2. Kizuna

I have no idea how I missed it. A beautiful epic adventure in the style of the PS2's Shadow of the Colossus - my personal favourite PS2 game ever. Definitely a must see. But will it come to Europe or even America?

3. The House of the Dead: Overkill

A mature on rails shooter promising some very good visuals. Plus this is a prequel to the first game in the sequel for fans of the series. And guess what? This is Sega's third game on the list. They are seriously publishing/developing some of Wii's best of 2009!

4. Muramasa: The Demon Blade

A 2D action-RPG from the makers of Odin Sphere. What more could you want? Plus look at the visuals. Quite beautiful if you ask me!

5. Arc Rise Fantasia

Another traditional JRPG will be hitting the Wii next year developed by Imageepoch. I am a fan of traditional RPGs so the more the merrier!

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RPG fanatics may notice that Square Enix are missing from the list. Not that they don't have any games in development but I just don't think any of them will be released in 2009. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers hopefully will see the light of day in 2009. The newly announced Dragon Quest X won't for sure be released in 2009 because Dragon Quest IX still has to be released for the DS!!

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Bring on 2009 (and beyond!).

Roo

Welcome!

I have decided to seperate my gaming posts from my older blog, Androo's This & That. This is my sanctuary for all my gaming thoughts! Hope you enjoy =)

Roo