Author: Grubdog
A Shadow’s Tale – Impressions
The game is incredible. It hit me with its immersive atmosphere right at the title screen. The haunting sounds, smooth gameplay and vague weird presentation is making me feel attached to the shadow world. It’s a really fascinating place, and traveling through it is really simple, the game is basically played in the background as a standard platformer. Moving around objects in the foreground alters the background and that’s how puzzles are implemented in the game. Motion controls haven’t been used much yet, just basic pointer interaction. Everything is flowing so well, the game is pure gameplay non-stop, area after area. Lots of clever level design too. The character movement feels like the old Prince of Persia games, except not as clunky and the jumping is more refined.
Move over, Nintendo
In a “Move” that highlighted their innovative and interactive approach to gaming, Sony mysteriously dropped two tons of bananas in the city of Sydney on Thursday. It was done to promote their brand new Move motion controller in a stroke of marketing genius. Sony reps were around the whole day giving away bananas, encouraging people to Move and burn off the extra energy. A concept almost as inspired as Move itself. Sony had a PS3 system set up in the heart of Circular Quay on a huge screen, playing their smash hit game Heavy Rain, which launched this year and is now compatable with the Move device. People were taking turns playing all day, it’s so simple, you don’t even need to press buttons anymore. Everyone was getting involved, all you need to do is move your hands to play. Onlookers were “Moved” by the games emotional storyline and deep messages, emphasising how much Move connects players to the game.
Last Window
Sometimes I purposefully get the game over scenes just to see what happens. Real gamers care more about experiencing the game than their stats. Plus, if I never die in a game, it’d be just like real life. The only way to really lose is to not explore, to not experience.
Trackmania Wii
Trackmania is pure racing. Fast, challenging, and rewarding. The game doesn’t waste any time, throwing track after track at you, hundreds of them. This is what makes the game unique, it lets you experience the thrill of mastering a new track over and over again. The races aren’t against real opponents, you’re racing against set times from ghost cars you can drive right through. The only physical thing you’re racing against in this game is the track. There’s 6 different types of track environments, all full of ridiculous paths, loops and jumps.
BIT.TRIP RUNNER
BIT.TRIP RUNNER is a brand new game on WiiWare which has you controlling a black pixelated character through multiple stages. He runs by himself, but you control when he jumps, slides and more, pressing buttons at the right time to avoid obstacles. It’s a very simple concept, but the extremely good presentation and level design make this a very unique experience.
Again: Eye of Providence
Again is a crime solving adventure game by CING, where you play as the FBI investigating a very deep series of murders.
The style of the game is much different than CING’s other games: they’ve got real people to act out the game rather than drawings, and it works really well. This style naturally leaves the door open for awkward poses and immersion breaking weirdness, but all the actors do a fantastic job with their expressions, and CING does just as good a job using them at appropriate times. It feels very normal as soon as they start talking and you get into the game.
DSi XL – Impressions
My curiosity got the best of me and I decided to get myself a Bronze DSi XL the other day. The system didn’t look too big when I first took it out of the box, but when I opened it up the size of the screens was a bit of a shock. It’s like two mini TVs in there. After booting it up, I wasn’t too impressed with the image quality in the menu, despite the immense brightness of the screens, things looked a bit blocky.
However, my fears were put to rest after putting some actual games in it, they all look fantastic. Pokemon, Zelda, GTA, Another Code, all shining brightly and majestically. There were no problems at all reading text or with image stretching, in fact it all somehow looks better. Animal Crossing was one game that blew me away, it suddenly felt a lot more playable and the colours shone through very nicely.
Monster Hunter Tri – Event Impressions
Cockatoo Island, Sydney. I was lucky enough to be invited to a special preview of Monster Hunter Tri held by Nintendo Australia. Here’s how it went down. Everyone invited met up at Circular Quay as per directions on the invitation, but nobody really knew what to expect. We knew we were headed to Cockatoo Island via ferry, but nobody expected THIS!
Sega Touch Darts
Kart Racer
Kart Racer is a pretty self explanatory name. You race karts. This game attempts to bring to life the simulation aspect of kart racing on Wii – there are no banana peels or explosions here, just braking points and racing lines. It has good intentions, but the execution gets a bit messy.
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Toot toot! The ZELDA train is here with a new game. So what’s new in Spirit Tracks? Set 100 years after Phantom Hourglass, Link has a keen interest in trains. Apart from that, Spirit Tracks doesn’t deviate too much from the classic Zelda formula, but it does offer a very streamlined Zelda experience in an inviting new world.
The PATHETIC State of the Gaming ‘Media’
This is basically about reviews, I was going to make it about how it sucks as a whole, but it got too depressing. We all know that Gamespot / IGN / 1up etc. all offer completely terrible reviews, have crap staff, and just plain embarrass themselves on a daily basis in almost every “opinion” piece they put up. But I came across this review and had to say something.
Continue reading “The PATHETIC State of the Gaming ‘Media’”Wii Want Our Money Back
As Wii tops sales charts worldwide, experts fear the current domination of Nintendo’s Wii system is a major threat to the stability of the gaming industry. A new study proves that if Wii continues to dominate, people will spend less money on gaming, which could force an alarming percentage of gaming developers out of business.
“I have Wii Sports, I don’t need any other games,” insisted a local resident we contacted, in a worrying statement. The general consensus from the gaming community is that Wii has downgraded videogaming from a serious hobby to merely a “fun” distraction.
Nintendo admits their main priority with Wii is making people have fun, but remain arrogant on its success. When questioned about the survival of other videogame makers, President of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime replied with “not my problem”.
Analysts previously felt that Wii was just having its moment and believed the fad would pass before doing too much serious damage, but uncertainty is starting to develop in even the most positive, and most industry analysts are now admitting things haven’t gone as planned and are closely monitoring the situation.
Observers are starting to discover loopholes in Nintendo’s strategy, as Wii owners currently endure a serious lack of new content. Experts warn that supply of Wii could be restricted for some time, and with consumers losing patience and PS3 getting more games released each year, things could very well get back to normal.
A former Nintendo employee agrees it’s only a matter of time before their “moment” is over. Keen industry observer MikeUS backed that up with his insight, “haha wii sounds like wee”.
Wii Breathes Life Into Gaming Industry
After suffering a steady decline over the last few years, sales of videogames are up over 55% over last year and there’s one key factor: the introduction of Nintendo’s new Wii system. Nearly six months after launch, keen consumers are still lining up for hours outside stores whenever a new shipment of Wii arrives. Such demand is unprecedented in the entire history of the gaming industry.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” commented local store owner John Fredward. “People are so excited when they can finally secure themselves a system, even when they have to trek here at 6am in the snow to get it.”
The key factor to its success is the introduction of a new way to play, which has given people who previously felt alienated from videogames a second chance. Nintendo’s Wii allows people to play games with unrestricted 3D movement simply by moving around the remote shaped controller. Son of a father of at least one, George Beating, proudly remarked, “my friends and family are actually excited about games again; Wii has a real friendly attractive vibe that just lets everyone let loose and have fun.”
Not only are consumers benefiting from Wii, but game developers are in heaven. “This system has given us a lot more to work with and given life to many ideas we’ve always wanted to realise.” Wii is much more developer-friendly than other systems and doesn’t require a huge money investment by the publisher, which is resulting in a huge barrage of games being released. The success of Wii is a win-win situation for the gaming industry and gamers, and it looks set to continue as Nintendo stocks rise to record highs.
Pietriots 