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Archive for the ‘Wii’ Category

Brawl Brawl Brawl

My Super Smash Bros. Brawl friend code: 3308 4229 3088

Please let me know if you add me, so I can add you back.

I wish I knew why but my current favorite character is turning out to be Diddy Kong. Diddy Kong?! WTF?! I don’t even like Diddy as a character, but he’s fun in Brawl.

More for myself than anyone, a character checklist (big ups to Burch for helping me unlock all of these): Read the rest of this entry »

March 10th, 2008 · Tags Nintendo, Video Games, Wii | Comments Off

The shakedown: Transformers & Pokemon Battle Revolution

Picked up both of these games yesterday, since I had them on reserve and had store credit to completely cover one and partially cover the other. (Yes, I’m a 24-year-old man who likes giant robots and battling monsters. So what, you wanna fight about it?) How did they fare? Read the rest of this entry »

June 27th, 2007 · Tags Nintendo, Pokemon, Reviews, Transformers, Video Games, Wii | Comments Off

All the zombies you can shake a Wiimote at

Well, Resident Evil fans, Destructoid has good news and ‘meh’ news.

The good news: Famitsu’s confirmed the RE4 remake for the Wii. You’ll be aiming with the Wiimote (ala the upcoming Metroid Prime 3), shaking the remote while holding B to reload (ala House of the Dead 4?), and waving the controller without B to knife some zombie bitches (ala … Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, I guess). This port’s gonna include the added stuff from the PS2 version, such as the Ada missions, as well as a trailer for Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles.

The meh news: The meh news is Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles.

It appears that the Wii “original” Resident Evil title, Umbrella Chronicles, will be a first-person gun shooter on (wait for it) rails. There will be no free movement (other than occasionally choosing your path), with the game focused entirely on shooting. The game will detail the fall of Umbrella Corp., and will include most main characters previously seen in the series.

In preparation for this potential disaster, gamers can feel free to pick up a copy of the PlayStation 2 game, Resident Evil: Dead Aim, for under twenty dollars at their local pawn shop.

I’ll probably pick it up anyway. As anyone who’s seen me play Rez knows, I sure do love a good rail shooter from time to time.

April 4th, 2007 · Tags Video Games, Wii, Wishlist | 1 Comment »

Whither Vic Viper?

Today, Destructoid asks: where have all the spaceships gone?

When did you last play a space shooter? Better yet, if you’re under the age of 20, have you ever played a space shooter? Back when it was a popular genre, we used to run to the local 7-11 with a fistful of mom’s laundry money, eager to plow through a hectic sea of deadly asteroids and insect-shaped enemy craft.

Since those days when high scores meant something, it seems every other genre that existed at the time has grown and evolved into something amazing. Rally-x paved the way for Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport. Pitfall became Tomb Raider. Even other classes of shooters like Contra have led to great games like Gears of War.

Why, then, have space shooters hit a darwinian roadblock? If Metroid can move through generations and still be fun, why can’t Galaga?

It’s a valid question. I think I’ve been looking for a good space shooter myself; the last one of any real worth I played was Ikaruga, and there’ve been times I’ve debated getting a Sega Saturn just so I can go back and play Radiant Silvergun (especially since someone’s finished translating the rather epic story). Heck, I’ve even thought of picking up R-Type Final for the PS2. And yet I haven’t. (Actually, the last ’shooter’ I bought in any fashion? Gradius, on the virtual console. Prior to that? Rez. I love Rez to death, but that’s another story altogether.)

Dtoid asks at the end:

What do you think, robot friends? Would you jump at the chance to play a 3-D spaceship game built for the 360, or do you think this genre is no longer viable and should be forgotten about?

I have to say I’m unsure - at least, about the 3-D part. I think part of the appeal of the space shooter is simply that it is uncomplicated in terms of gameplay (now, as for staying alive? that can be deadly). Putting things in 3-D naturally introduces all the complications that come with trying to dodge shots that are now coming from in front of you; depth is really hard to judge when you have no shadow, it seems. (On the other hand, there is Rez. Rez is not about the challenge, though.)

Maybe I should break out XNA Game Studio when I get home - I’m almost itching to try my finger at doing this myself, and the overhead or side-scrolling shooter is pretty much the standard demo project for just about every game development system ever. Hey, it’s worth a shot.

Worth four simultaneous shots, in fact, if I have Options.