wii thoughts

While we cool down and head into the slow season for games, many of us are clamoring for all the big spring titles. And while everybody is bitching about Splinter Cell and Super Street Fighter 4 getting pushed back, chances are that you've overlooked at least a few solid gaming experiences in the past few months or are so focused on the big action titles coming out, that you're going to end up missing some of the smaller releases. Now is the time to catch up!

If you own a Wii, bust that shit out. I'm sure a lot of you look at the Wii like some sort of board game that you only take out when you've got friends or family over, while you rely on your PS3/360 for your "hardcore" games. If you're convinced that there aren't any single player experiences worth having on the Wii, you're not paying attention. No More Heroes 2 is out next week and if you like anime, hack-n-slash games, insane gore, or absurd humor, this game is for you. Chances are you didn't play the first one and missed out on one of the most unique titles of this generation. Then again, you probably also didn't play Madworld, Nights, Muramusa, Zack and Wiki or any other great Wii game that got lost under piles of 1st party Nintendo titles and 3rd party shovelware.

Unique gaming experiences clearly have nothing to do with technology so do yourself a favor and FINALLY play Okami if you haven't. Looking for an RPG? Get the new Phantom Brave. As I mentioned in my last blog, Nintendo are essentially the reason you've never heard of some of the best Wii titles. Even I forgot that Little King's Story came out last year and was apparently really, really good. Nintendo only cares about how well Mario, Zelda, and Metroid sell. They tend to treat the Wii as nothing more than a vessel for updates to their tried-and-true classics. That's why the Gamecube went under, and that's why the Wii is going under. Until it does though, there are plenty of overlooked gems on the console.

Also keep in mind that Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is out here in the U.S. next week and after spending a couple of days with the Japanese release I can definitely say this is a must-own for any fighting fan. I'm not familiar with 90% of the Tatsunoko characters, but this only made the game feel fresher. Plus the Tatsunoko side ended up being awesome (I'm looking at you, Yatterman). If you enjoy Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for more than just it's roster, you MUST own TvC. MvC2 is fun, and despite the high level of play potential, it is unbalanced and essentially feels less like a fighter than Capcom's previous vs. efforts. While TvC definitely has plenty of moments of insanity, the action is slightly slower then MvC2 and fans of traditional 1 on 1 fighters will find a perfect balance.While I'm still on the topic of upcoming Wii games, a reader mentioned Monster Hunter Tri. Both Brian R. and I have been looking into the Monster Hunter series after a co-worker started playing it nonstop on his PSP. I've been keeping an eye on Monster Hunter Tri since Capcom announced in 2007 that it was being moved from the PS3 to the Wii. Monster Hunter is a craze of Pokemon proportions sweeping Japan on the PSP, and while the original U.S. PS2 release of the first title was marred by poor online PS2 support, Capcom may very well strike gold and create a legitimate console MMORPG for the Wii.

The Wii has obviously been the biggest disappointment for a lot of hardcore gamers expecting a revolution in the way we play games. Hell, the fact that Nintendo changed the name from Revolution to "Wii" should have been our first warning that things weren't going to go smoothly. Still, like so many others, I stood in line on launch day, bought a Wii, played it a lot, and then...stopped. Luckily, because of Cheap Ass Gamer, I've been able to start catching up on some great titles for super cheap. Madworld for $13 shipped is a steal. Start there.

-Brian T.

Another Year, Another Chance for my PS3

Seeing the great debate beginning to brew over this next gen console subject, I can’t just sit on the sidelines and let this one go. If my opinion matters one bit I would say that next gen consoles overall have been a failure, but don’t take that out of context though. There are great games, enhanced graphics, and better game control; but if we look at the hardware associated with the Wii, PS3, and 360, we can see that there have been letdowns with all three systems.

Like Brian T. said the Wii is nothing more than a glorified GameCube. It is a GameCube with motion control. For a long time now I have felt that the Wii was nothing more than a test; a test to see how the public would accept a new form of gameplay. Unfortunately it is widely accepted by all demographics from young to old, to people who really don’t even play video games; therefore causing Nintendo to continue pushing this console. There also is a serious lack of quality software support for this system but yet I can guarantee that Nintendo is raking in the cash, and because of that there is no need on Nintendo’s part to change a thing at the moment.

Then we have the 360. Overall we are looking at a pretty good system. They have support through other social networking communities such as Facebook and Twitter, along with a great library of games. There online service is above average and you can see that paying for the service definitely makes it worth the $50 per year. What the system lacks is the dependent hardware to run the console. System hardware failures plague the console with the Red Rings of Death and the E74 error code. Like Brian T. said too, it is ridiculous to spend $300 - $400 on the system then have to go spend another $100 on a wireless network adapter to get online. You would think since networking technology is not advanced rocket science; it would be built in the system or made affordable at least, but once again the system makes money even with its flaws, so why change what in terms of profits is not broken.

Finally there is the PS3. Let me say I have been let down by this system from the time I got mine and more so then the latter two. One of the biggest disappointments for this system is the lack of software that is available for the system. If you need someone to blame for this you can thank Sony for not providing the training and information that was needed for these developers to program the games. I can see how these game developers did not want to spend the money to train programmers to write for this system when they could just release it on a more popular, easier to work with system like the 360. To this day I still do not own a PS3 game. There hasn’t been a game yet exclusive to the system that I feel I need to have, and if there is a game that is multi-platform I always get it for the 360. But before you can complain about the software I think it is only fair to look at the system itself. We are in the 4th generation with the PS3. If you go here you can see a chart of all the different PS3’s and what hardware they contained.

It’s seems to me the PS3 has taken steps back instead of moving forward to try and provide a better product to their consumers. Look at the 360 for example. They have increased their hard drive space, replaced their original processors with better ones, and added more services to system. The PS3 has removed the flash card reader, removed backwards compatibility, reduce the number of USB slots, and taken away the removable hard drive. So how do they justify the price of the system? Sure they increased the hard drive space, but they removed everything else. No wonder we have seen a price drop in recent months.

That is not all that lets me down with the PS3. The PS Network; now there is a joke if I’ve ever seen one. Sure it is free, but what do you gain by having a free service: lag, poor support, and limited connectivity. If I was partial solely to the PS3 I would be more than happy to pay for my online service to ensure excellent service. Also I need to mention Home. What a waste of time and effort there. If I wanted to participate in something of that nature I would go and play The Sims. At least that way I wouldn’t be subjected to endless advertising. Plus it is completely annoying trying to have a conversation because it is a pain in the ass to type everything when 95% of the people don’t have headsets. Tell me why is there no Bluetooth headset included with the system? This is similar to Microsoft not having Wi-Fi built in to the system. Why not include something that probably costs them pennies to make compared to the $100 it costs us to buy it. When is enough, enough?

Where are we left as gamers when the companies that we support seem to not really care to support their consumers? And it is not only Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony; it is the software companies that support the consoles too. If you read my earlier blog “Diamonds Last Forever” you can see how I talked about there being a lack of games on next gen consoles that take gaming to the next level. There are no revolutionary or breakthrough games on any of the 3 major consoles today. Gaming has reached a standstill in some respects. Hopefully with the introduction of Natal we will see a shift in gaming. We will see what next gen gaming should be and hopefully get everything we should be getting out of these consoles. I know though that a magic wand shaped like an ice cream cone will not be the answer to this. It will be yet another let down from Sony. Maybe they finally realized this and that is why the date has been pushed back so that way they can try and save some face. Let me know what you think and how you feel about today’s gaming companies.

-Brian R.

video game pms

I'm in a bad mood. I'm taking a break from the insanely frustrating process of trying to get my 360 online to set up a Live account. To keep it short, because of the layout of my house and electronics, I have to use Internet Connection Sharing through the PC in my room to get my 360 online which may require me to change my router's IP address which is way more work than it should be. Microsoft's greed once again finds a way to piss me off. I mean, seriously guys...the fucking Wii has built-in Wifi, yet I have to buy a $100 proprietary brand adapter to get the 360 to do this? FUCK YOU.

So Microsoft is on today's shit list for me, how about Sony? Well, it would appear that yesterday they delayed the release of their still-nameless motion controller. Am I mad about that? No, I don't really care...at all. All this did is remind me how stupid Sony has been this generation. Year after year they keep making mistakes from botched launches, to ridiculous amounts of PS3 upgrades/downgrades, to the completely useless PSP Go, to the hilariously underwhelming Playstation Home. The list goes on. Sony already has one failed peripheral on the market with the PS3 Eye. Why introduce another one that is just essentially another Wii remote controller?

I own a Wii, a PS3, and a 360. Everybody always argues which console is better, which has the best/worst games, etc. People are too quick to pledge allegiance to a console or company these days. Despite the success Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo have all had over the past few years, I don't think any one of them has actually done a good job and provided an overall positive experience.

Nintendo beat the shit out of Sony and Microsoft this generation with a repackaged Gamecube. Creative, yet shrewd as hell, they found a way to offer a new twist on the last generation that ended up being a lot more fun than the competition offered at the time of it's launch. Unfortunately, Nintendo doesn't know the meaning of quality control and allowed their console to be overrun with shovelware because it kept units flying off the shelves. Because of this, many truly awesome Wii titles were lost in a sea of bullshit and suffered sales so poor that 3rd party developers are ceasing to make hardcore titles. And there's the mostly terrible online experience. And there's the failure to support external hard drives (the SD card update "solution" is bullshit). And Wii Motion Plus should technically be free for us suckers who paid $40 dollars for remotes that should have had 1:1 tracking in the first place. Sony is stupid, but Nintendo is greedy and oblivious.

Sony finally saw the PS3 come out on top last year. A handful of 1st party exclusives like Infamous and Uncharted 2 really gave the console some footing and developers are finally, kind of...mostly getting the hang of programming for the console. Other than those positives, you can refer to all the bullshit mistakes Sony has made in the paragraphs above. The motion controller will fail because everybody already owns a Nintendo Wii, and guess what? We're all bored with it. If Sony thinks they've got the sequel to the Wii on their hands, they are wrong. Find a way to fix support for the PS3 Eye and PSP Go before you rush another expensive piece of technology on the market...

I mentioned Nintendo being greedy, but obviously the greed crown really belongs to Microsoft. The 360 has had the steadiest level of success despite manufacturing hands-down, the absolute least reliable game console in the past 20 years. Many people own beat-up, dusty NES consoles that work better than their 360's. Microsoft's business model is obvious in the way they handle the 360. Moreso than any other console, it is a financial vacuum and they still aren't that reliable. But whatever, I've spent too much time writing this. I guess I should go figure out how I can get my Live account set up so I can throw some more cash at Microsoft...

-Brian T.

another subliminally pro-saturn entry

I want you to stop for a second and think about how many different game controllers you have actually held and played with for different consoles over the years. Go as far back as you can remember. You didn't have to own the game console, but if a friend did, it counts. Keep in mind that the Genesis, Saturn, XBOX, PSX, PS3, NeoGeo CD, and many others actually had TWO distinctly different controllers. I have used 18 different controllers for home consoles. 18. That's a lot of controllers. The strangest thing though is how little they've actually changed.If you think about it, controllers basically took 2 paths. There is a Nintendo path...and there is a Sega path. Both Nintendo and Sega started with extremely similar-looking controllers for the NES and Master System respectively. But when the two launched their 16-bit consoles, the real innovation began. Let's start with the Genesis. First Sega released the 3 button pad, establishing contour and the "boomerang" shape that is still prevalent today. They soon released a six-button version that, while smaller, made all games (especially fighters) easily playable on the Genesis.

Nintendo came out of the gate with an awesome controller with the SNES as well. It had triggers and the 4 face buttons were arranged in a diamond shape. Moving along the timeline, this diamond-shaped controller and basic SNES design should be noted when you consider how Sony got into the console business. For those of you who don't know, Sony was originally hired by Nintendo to create a disc-based add-on for the SNES to compete with the Sega CD. Upon the Sega CD's massive failure, Nintendo basically fired Sony and decided to stick with cartridges for the N64. Sony took what they'd been working on and and made it into the Playstation...which destroyed the N64 without mercy. The funny thing is though, the original Playstion controller was basically identical to the SNES controller. It added another set of triggers and the exaggerated boomerang shape, but even the diamond-shaped button layout was the same. Hell, the Dualshock 3 is essentially an SNES controller with analog sticks attached if you squint at it hard enough.

Sega, on the other hand, stuck with the 6 button route, added triggers, and created a controller that many argue was FAR more comfortable than the PSX controller for the Saturn. When they released Nights, they also launched a new 3D controller with an analog stick which essentially became the Dreamcast controller. Just in the same way that the Dualshock 3 is an SNES controller, the XBOX 360 controller can be traced directly back to the Genesis just by looking at it. The basic shape and contour match and the analog stick placement is identical to the Saturn/DC controllers.

Nintendo basically decided when they launched the N64 that they were never going to made a good controller again so they released the horribly designed N64 controller which many games required you to have to jump back and forth between the d-pad and the stupidly placed analog stick. While fans of Goldeneye swear it's a great controller, everyone else realized it sucked. It also started Nintendo's trend of making their buttons whatever the fuck and size and shape they want. The Gamecube controller is a disgusting little mess and as much as Nintendo is once again trying to revolutionize controllers with the Wii, that controller pretty much sucks too for most practical games.

It's interesting to note that while I grew up mostly on Sega systems and the Saturn controller is my favorite controller of all time, I actually find the Dualshock 3 to be the best controller on the market despite the fact that I was never a huge fan of the SNES design. What about you guys? I'm curious to see if people who grew up on Sega systems prefer the 360 controller and if SNES owners prefer the Dualshock 3. Comment back and let me know!

-Brian T.

"clever wii pun"

Wow...so New Super Mario Bros. came out yesterday for the Wii and I didn't even know. Where the fuck have I been? How could such a major release of a new Mario game slip by completely under the radar? Hell, I love rail shooters and I've been pumped for Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles and I just found out that came out yesterday too. How am I missing these releases?

Well, to be honest with you, sometimes I forget I own a Wii. Games that I wanted more than anything to be good (Muramusa) ended up being huge disappointments at a time when I felt it was crucial for the Wii to get some must-have titles. I really enjoyed Madworld, but I played it for 3 or 4 hours at a friend's house and pretty much felt like I'd already beaten it. I'm pretty sure Sam and Max was the last new Wii game I bought until last week when I was able to snag House of the Dead Overkill for $12 new. Thanks to Cheapassgamer.com for that find. Are World of Goo and Little King's Story the only crucial games that came out since then?

We all know that Nintendo, as well as 95% of developers, dropped the ball with the Wii. Brian and I were discussing the Wii yesterday about how it was a cautious experiment by Nintendo to try something new that worked and got really big. The fact that Nintendo was basically able to nearly double the longevity of the last gen consoles (PS2, XBOX, GC) is a testament to that. No matter how you look at it, the Wii is a last gen system that decimated the 360 and PS3 in sales for 2 years. That is still impressive to me. Brian is convinced that Nintendo's next console could very well be the definitive home gaming console upon it's release and that Nintendo will once and for all take the video game crown. We'll see...but in the mean time I've got that damn system in my room thirsty for a few more gems before it's replaced.

There's still plenty of time and plenty of potential must-have releases planned for the Wii. New Metroid, Mario, and Zelda titles will ensure we get another 2 years out of the system before we get to see what Nintendo has in store for us next. What else is there though? Any RPGs on the horizon? Comment back and let me know! Help me catch up and get the most out of this thing...after all, I fucking waited in line in the cold on launch day for it. Also, get ready for a review later this week on my most hated Wii game...No More Heroes.

-Brian T.