Getting back on track

Wow, so I have been living under a rock for the past few months (a rock named school *cough*) Anyway, I've been able to read the May issue of Nintendo Power and realized how many things I didn't know about. Yay?



Image from IGN

First off I want to express how awesome the Guitar Hero game looks for the DS, I guess I'm just a fan of cool peripherals but I think it's a pretty innovative way to play the game on a hand held. I mean, it'd be kind of awkward jamming on the subway with a mini guitar... what sucks though is the missing orange button (not that I was able to play on hard mode but the option would have been nice...)

On Tour will contain a line-up of more than 20 licensed songs from bands as Nirvana, OK Go, and No Doubt; Activision will most certainly reveal the full list of bands and songs as we get closer to the game's summer release date. Players will be able to pick from six different guitarists to represent them in-game -- while four guitarists have been in Guitar Hero before, two of the characters have been designed exclusively for the Nintendo DS game. As they get through career mode, they'll unlock venues as well as outfits to deck out their chosen persona.

Excerpt from IGN.com

Next, are the re-releases, Disgaea for the DS?! Aghhh noooo, so much of my life has been lost to that game and the item world... but I will probably get this game anyway... lol, just like I do whenever they release another Final Fantasy... Oh, they're doing that again? Great. Despite all my griping, it does look awesome. I just wonder if I'll be spending all summer replaying games or if I'll manage to play some new ones...

When did this happen? There are two cheerleading video games for the Wii? I don't know whether or not I'll buy it, (Although All Star Cheer Squad is choreographed by the same guy who did Bring it On... and I do love me some spirit fingers XD) it's nice to see developers trying to create games for girls...? When are they gonna make some games for women?

As far as I can tell, the difference between the games is ASCS uses the balance board from Wii Fit.

Wow! Happy New Years everyone!

It's been a while huh? I've finally finished my first semester of Animation school and have had my first day yesterday (still feels like today since I didn't sleep yet). So far so good, I wish I did better (not that I did badly) but improvement is always something everyone strives for :)

I have been able to play some games over the holidays. I've played and finished Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance for Gamecube, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn for the Wii and Guild Wars: Eye of the North for PC.

As well as played a bit of Guitar Hero 1, 2, and 3, Taiko Drum Master, Mario Party 8, Rayman: Raving Rabbids, WarioWare, WiiPlay, blah blah blah... the usual party games lol

I've also had a chance to watch some Mario Galaxy and Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition. The Mario isn't mine and I didn't really feel like playing it at that moment, but it looked amazing, the graphics, the gameplay, this is definitely on the summer list (if I get to do all the drawing things I've wanted to do!). I didn't play Resident Evil 4 because 1) I'm not very good with 3rd person controls on a console and 2) Ever since the first Silent Hill I've never liked playing survival/horror on my own (I'm sure playing it at midnight with 5.1 surround sound didn't help either lol). But, it was fun giving my friend advice as he slashed and shot through villagers, as well as keep him company, we were both pretty freaked lol

I'm pretty sure I've already talked about all the party games, so I'll skip over that...

I've bought Gears of War for PC, Black and White 2 and the Expansion, Age of Empires 3 and the Expansion and Tabula Rasa as well as bought some Game Boy games to be sent overseas for a friend. I bought Tabula Rasa because it was cheap, there was a sale at EB and I picked it up in the hopes to check it out later since there's a free month included. Gears, B&W and AOE were 40% off so that's pretty self-explanatory I think... luckily I convinced myself not to get the World of Warcraft battle chest for $20... I would have failed school for SURE.

Ok, so on to the games that I did play for a few days. I finally got through Guild Wars: EOTN, and the verdict was... it was alright. I had no urge to boot up my comp and log in like I did with Factions or Prophecies. The story wasn't the most engaging, but I did enjoy most of the missions. If you're thinking about getting it and aren't sure, I'd either get one of the other campaigns or wait for Guild Wars 2. I realize that this was the only expansion, but it didn't really keep my interest like I thought it would.

Fire Emblem for GC was one of the titles I kept looking at my shelf but put off playing because of god knows what. I finally played it and it was great. Same old Fire Emblem (with obvious graphics upgrades). I find the battle animations tedious and turned them off, doing that really speeds up the game (especially if you're like me and reset the system everytime one of your guys dies). I think there is definite replay value in this game, and I'll probably do that in the summer too.

The Fire Emblem for Wii was a delightful surprise! I didn't realize it was a direct sequel to the Gamecube version so when I popped in the disc sad that I'd never see Ike, Lucia, Nephanee, etc. again, there they were! And older and cooler looking too! :D Schweet! I liked the little tweeks in the game play, the option to add all the enemy attack areas together was awesome. However, I noticed a huge difference in difficulty with Normal mode in the Gamecube version and Normal mode in the Wii version... Wii version felt way more difficult, but maybe that's because all the guys you start off with get killed in 1-2 hits. Needless to say, I had to play it on easy to beat it as quickly as possible before my break ended. Oh, the controls on the Wiimote were awkward to get used to, especially after I played the GC version. But, it's a small learning curve.

I definitely want to do write ups on these games, but not sure with time constraints so I hope you guys don't mind casual banter like this. If you have specific questions, I can answer them in the comment section.

Cheers!

pic from IGN

Finally!

(Fire Emblem pic from ign.com)
Hey all!

Lately since school, I haven't been able to get my hands on any games... until a couple days ago (see how long that lasted?) Anyway, I was able to play some DK: Jungle Climber, Taiko Drum (Japanese release) and Drawn to Life for the DS. I was also able to clock a couple of hours on the new GW expansion Eye of the North. I hope to at least provide quick reviews of a couple of them, very very quick reviews since I have to get to school to do my animations.

DK: Jungle Beat - (Game play time 15 min)
To sum it up, there is little difference between this version and the version for GBA (I haven't encountered any use for the stylus yet). The premise of this game is to be able to jump and swing your way through using hand holds and special jumps. Timing is key in this game as you rotate around hand holds aiming for various items and enemies.

Taiko Drum - (Game play time 25 min)
I love music games, and for a hand held version of the PS2 one I've played it's pretty addicting. You use two styluses and hit the picture of the drum on the touch screen. It plays like the one to the PS2, hit in the middle for the red circles and hit the sides for the blue ones. There are also classic 8-bit themes as well that you can play, but the other songs are all in Japanese because it's an import.

Drawn to Life - (Game play time 25 min)
A very innovative game that really utilizes the stylus and touch screen! I was pretty involved drawing all the little aspects of my world. You can draw what your character looks like, what the objects he/she interacts with and the background and people involved. So far so good! Hopefully this will lead to a full review!

Guild Wars: Eye of the North - (Game play time about 10+hrs)
So far I'm enjoying the expansion, there are a lot of little things that they've added like sound clips to some of the characters (which freaked me out at first because it was pretty loud) so it reminds me a little of Warcraft. Obviously they've added more skills and armor, they also have a hall of monuments, which is alright... I think I have to play this one a bit more or write reviews on the other ones....

Oh and in other game news, Fire Emblem for Wii looks awesome, gotta get around to finishing the one for GC O_o;;

Bye for now!

Not to busy for gaming

It's been pretty hectic these past few weeks but even though I wasn't able to write in this game blog I have been able to play some games! So far I've tried Brain Boost: Gamma Wave and Brain Boost: Beta Wave, I've also been able to try out Etrian Odyssey and WiiPlay! So, be sure to check out a few reviews to come. They aren't overly complicated games, so the reviews won't be too long (well, maybe not Etrian Odyssey).

I haven't been able to keep on track with the E3 shinanigans, but I did catch a glimpse of some wii games! I'm looking forward to Wii Fit, it'll at least keep me more active, like my Wii Sports... I'm also really looking forward to Mario Galaxy and ESPECIALLY FIRE EMBLEM!!!!!!!

Oh, but I did check out this video interview with Shigeru Miyamoto about games and the future of the Wii.

Also, in case anyone is interested, Nintendo's E3 site, awesome stuff, can't wait for the Wii Zapper, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart, shweeeet! It's so hi-technicaaaaaaalll~~~ lol.

Super Paper Mario Wii

SUPER PAPER MARIO

Developer: Intelligent Systems
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: April 2007
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Multiplayer: No
Genre: Adventure/Platform with RPG elements
Platform: Wii

Platform Reviewed on: Wii
Official Website: A small interactive website with gameplay videos. It's pretty neat because they've incorporated the 3D aspect of the game into the website.
Hours played: About 7 hours (On the 5th heart)

Synopsis: At first it seems like a typical Mario adventure where the Princess is kidnapped by Bowser, but as Mario and Luigi are ready to thwart Bowsers scheme they find out that Bowser didn't do it this time! Just as Mario and Luigi reach Bowsers lair a new character named Count Blech admits to taking the Princess then kidnaps Bowser AND Luigi, leaving Mario face down in Bowsers castle! What a jerk! Tippi, a butterfly looking fairy called a "Pixl", comes to help Mario and they make their way to the town of Flipside in the hopes of rescuing their friends and find out what Count Blech is up to.

Tutorial: The instructions of the game feel more integrated into the game, I think I feel that way because I'm used to the "stop and learn" tutorials like Yggdra Union. Anyway, the instructions are pretty easy and are built upon when you progress in the game. For example, Mario has friends called "Pixls" which each have different abilities associated with them. The first Pixl he meets, named Tippi, helps Mario identify important objects or characters in the game. The player must point the Wiimote at the screen and "point" at the object which will then highlight or appear red, which means it can be accessed or given more information. When Mario finds more Pixls to join him, he gains more abilities (Tippi is actually the only Pixl that is with you on the screen the majority of the time) like throwing objects, blowing stuff up, pounding the floor, etc. So it's up to the player to find out which one to use at what time, which is nice because it will go back and forth between Pixls.

Story/Characters: The main characters are already pretty established, the new characters are pretty funny, the brainless muscleman O'Chunks, the Shapeshifting Mimi, a jester named Dimentio, Natasia the secretary or assistant to Count Blech, and Count Blech himself who is bent on destroying the universe (of course!). The characters are built upon as the story progresses, and there is a second story that follows parallel to the main story, which gradually reveals itself. Neato.

Graphics/Cinematics: 2D with 3D aspects when you press the A button. This makes the game very entertaining, when you're stuck in the game, the answer is usually to "flip" into the 3D dimension. This aspect of the game not only moves the game along, but also provides a different perspective to the game, especially the remade levels from previous Mario games. The cinematics are pretty much the same as the gameplay, nothing too fancy, and it works.

Interface: Pretty good, straightforward, I like the option of the quick menu because if anyone had to move their right thumb to the middle everytime they changed Pixls they would probably get a bad cramp. The menus weren't cluttered and were clean and organized. The layout of the text was good too, nothing was cut off and the boxes/bubbles were filled well. There were some times where the dialogue boxes didn't fit quite right, because of the Japanese to English translation (like in manga translations) but they didn't hinder the gameplay or enjoyment.

Sound/Audio/Voice Acting: I actually like the music for the game, it's not annoying, and there are also some remixes of the older Mario songs. The audio is alright, the thing that irritated me the most was the constant beeping when you're down in HP, I found myself using whatever heals just to get out of hearing that sound. Ugh. Voice acting was just done in snippets, Mario doing the little "Oh yeah" like the other Mario games, but no talking, just text. That's not always a bad thing, they emphasize different parts in the dialogue through the spelling of words and the size of the text.

Gameplay/Controls: The game is normally played with the Wiimote turned horizontal, like a classic controller. When you want to use Tippi you can point the Wiimote to the screen, select objects that highlight in red and she can give you hints or information on them. The A button is to flip to the 3D world, button 1 is to use your selected Pixl, 2 is to jump and 1 & 2 together opens a quick menu (which I love as you change Pixls a lot). The + symbol opens the regular menu and the - symbol shows the button configuration. Oh and be careful about staying in the 3D world too long, you have a bar that gows down with all the time you spend in there, when it goes down you lose HP.

I really enjoy being able to use the Wiimote in a different way, I'm glad they didn't try to use the pointer too much. I also like the Pixls and how you gain a different abilities with each one that befriends you. However, it's a little strange about the RPG elements in this game, sometimes I forget you can level up as the enemies don't really take a lot of HP off when they hit you. This is overlooked though with all the other great qualties of the game, mainly the 3D aspect. There is also an option to gain points by shaking the Wiimote as you're jumping on enemies. This increases your score and is good for leveling up.

Replay value: Low to Medium, there are some things you can go back to in the passed levels, and you can collect cards or get the town cook to make you different things, but so far I don't know if I'll pick it up again any time soon.

Learning Curve: Easy

Pros:
+ Varied gameplay (Different Pixls)
+ Constant surprises (There were so many moments where I was caught off gaurd with the gameplay and just smiled)

Cons:
- Sound of low HP is like nails on a chalkboard
- Low storage space to hold things

Summary: I really enjoyed this game, the story the characters, the interactivity and switching between Pixls. The cons about this game are pretty minimal, and if anything are just me being picky, but they're more of a FYI for those who wanted to know.

Score: 9/10

Pictures from Amazon.ca

Super Paper Mario for Wii getting great reviews

Seems that Super Paper Mario is doing very well, both for the casual and hardcore gamers! Check out the story at Next Generation. I'm impressed, usually I hear a lot of complaining that games aren't "hardcore" enough... maybe they mean challenging? Or not for the casual gamers?

Anyway, I'm hoping to either get Super Paper Mario (depending on the replay/multiplayer value) or rent it. But I have to find time first, my friend Choops (who used to play a lot of Guild Wars with me) recently bought me the WoW 14-day trial DVD, so I'm going to try it out on Friday night and see if I can withstand the addiction. I have been avoiding that MMORPG for the longest time, I barely managed to dodge Everquest and Final Fantasy XI.

Mystery Wii's Revealed!

The last two Wii Artists that I posted about in the Win a customized Wii from Nintendo Contest have been revealed!

Derrick Hodgson
Mixing cartoon, graffiti and contemporary design, Hodgson creates a style and environment that play with mutated characters in crowded complex spaces. It's this unique vision that quickly advanced him to the forefront of contemporary art and character design.

Kardinal Offishall
A regular on BET and MuchMusic, Kardinal has collaborated with some of hip hop' greats, rhyming with Busta Rhymes and Timbaland. He has collaborated with Allister Lee to create a truly unique Wii that reflects both artist's styles.

Games night... again!

We had another Games Night at my friends place this past Saturday, it was a lot of fun! We tried the Japanese version of Taiko Drum Master. It concentrates on mini-games more, I guess it's because of the party game aspect of it (it still has a music selection, but way more than the North American version of course). Who knew a drum would be so much fun? For anyone who likes music games, definitely try this out, if you can't play Japanese games then there's a North American release (the one that I have) just called Taiko Drum Master. You will want to grab an extra drum if you can as it's not as fun if you're playing on your own.

We also did the usual Karaoke Revolution/Wii games deal. We wanted to try SingStar next, but I have to go out and buy that. Apparently, there's an 80's version, but it was only released in Europe. Boo. Oh, and I tried out Karaoke Revolution: American Idol, it was alright, but the song selection is weaker than the other ones imo. It follows the format of the TV show American Idol, where the player can go through the audition stages up to the grand finale. The reviews by Simon, Randy and Paula (I don't know if it is Paula because she looked and sounded different) are only good if you put it on a difficulty higher than Easy, otherwise they're just praising you.

For the Wii, we mostly played Rayman: Raving Rabbids, and Wii sports because my friend came back from Virginia and hasn't tried the Wii yet!

I have also been playing a lot of Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales for DS. It's a really fun game, it incorporates RPG elements with many mini games. It's like FF3 with minigames and lots of chocobos (duh). It has various Final Fantasy songs mixed into it, which is a nice touch. I still have to check out the card battling system, I tried it out briefly, it reminded me of Yu-Gi-Oh, because you summon monsters with cards. Good use of the top screen too! More on this later... (read: I will probably review this next).

My friend Choops is getting slowly addicted to World of Warcraft, which means that I'll never see her again on Guild Wars. I'm slowly getting less addicted to Guild Wars, the third installment was really dragging in the beginning, and I'm finding that I don't like soloing as much anymore, and I was never into PvP. So, I'm probably going to hold off on GW until I get Choops back or my other friend RogueCRX or even until Guild Wars 2 (which was announced recently in the PC Gamer mag... I also got my free Mini-pet too). I suppose this is good because then I can review more and play more games.

Win a unique Nintendo Wii!

One of the customized Wiis, by Udon's Arnold Tsang.

Nintendo is having a draw to win 1 of 6 customized Wiis!

Four Wiis are done by a specific artist, while the remaining two are mystery artists! Try your luck and enter to win. It may be more likely than getting a Wii in a retail store right now anyway lol. Thank god I got mine at launch.