Return of the Platformers

     Anyone who has been playing video games for more the 10 years knows one genre that dominated, then soon faded- the platformer. The genre that is home to some of gaming's best. Shoveling through annaul sports releases, and shooters there just aren't as many platformers as there use to be. But recently, the Wii has been getting a slew of terrific platformers that hopefully marks the return of the platformer. One of video game's best, Super Mario Galaxy (1&2) had us jumping in 360 degres and scratching our heads in outer space, NSMBWii had us fighting and laughing with our friends, Epic Yarn had us amazed by a truly remarkable art style. It seems that platformers are bringing innovation in a day where developer stick with the tried and true. Take Max and the Magic marker for example, the game had you jumping and climbing like every other platformer, but bringing in a marker that allows you to draw on your level changed everything. Platformers of today have managed to retain their classic feel, while proving innovative gameplay twists. Theres one game that can't be left out of the innovation found in platforming. One glimpse at LittleBigPlannet and the user is overloaded with brilliant ideas. Create and sharing are as much of a focus as the platforming itself. If your interested in revisiting the platformer, you'll be surprised to know it is bringing more innovation then any other genre these days.

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If Only...

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Black Ops Zombies Wii Footage

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First Direct Feed Black Ops Wii

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Call of Duty Black Ops Wii Screens

Not the best quality but really its all wii got. These aren't my pictures as I don't have the game but I will continue to roam the internet to find more.

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The Force Unleashed II Cutscene Comparison

If you read my review of The Force Unleashed II on Wii, you know I made a point about the unessary simplification of the cutscenes. Here is some visuals to help my point get across.





Please feel free to comment below.



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Star Wars : the Force Unleashed II Wii Review

Star Wars : the Force Unleashed II Wii Review.

So the Wii version of TFU2 hasn’t got a lot of attention from the press, so I though I would post my impressions of the Wii version. I've got bot Version of the game and will be comparing them as I go along.

Before we start, let it be known that I though Krome's last TFU game on Wii was the best version.

1. Gameplay

     The first thing you will notice when you boot up the game and play is that motion controlled combat has been removed for the most part. No longer can you swing and have Starkiller swing his saber. While it allows for better combos, in the end the game suffers because of this choice. The game downplays the force and instead has its focus on lightsaber combat.  It seems like RedFly has had some trouble with the number of buttons on the wii-remote, camera controls are mapped to the + and – buttons on the Wii remote. This is a very inconvientant spot and really disrupts combat. On a better note when the camera co-operates hacking and slashing is a blast, enemies disembody and the game makes you feel powerful.

The combos are a lot flashier then the HD version too. Where as in the HD version the usual is attacking then fusing your saber with lightning, starkiller is stationary for the most part. In the Wii version Starkiller is jolting around tossing the sabers and spinning himself into a spiral.  A disappointing lack of a strong physics system really hurts the games force powers, enemies fly in straight directions and there isn't much to pick up and throw. In Krome's TFU an impressive physics engine allowed for almost anything to be picked up and smashed into enemies sending them flying. Here the most you can do is have a storm trooper fall back in a straight line. The game does a terrible job of unleashing the Force

2. Graphics

After the lacking gameplay, you'll be pleased to know that the game looks better then the last one. Characters look a lot cleaner and smoother. While the game wont reach Dead Space Extractions facial animations at least Starkiller's face animates. Lightsabers look better too, and the environments are detailed. The framerate is very inconsistent. From surprisingly smooth to coming to a complete stop at times its very clear, the engine powering TFU2 (which I reported on a while back) just cant handle a group of enemies on screen. At one point while I was on Cateo Nemodia, the game turned into a slideshow for a good 5 seconds. Nothing game braking but it is very distracting.
 One thing this has that the first didn't on Wii, are Pre-Rendered cutscenes, but there is one thing that really is inexcusable. By dumbing down the cutscenes they aren’t giving the cinematic story that the other version have. It comes across as lazy and insulting that Lucas Arts would think that by dumbing down the Pre-renders that they would somehow make the in game look better.

Overall RedFly did a passable job of bringing Star Wars TFU2 to the Wii, but the lack of a strong physics system destroys the great feeling of Krome's last game.

Improvements:

+Looks Better

+Better combos/ battle system

+Prerendered cutscenes (unnecessarily simplified)

Disappointments:

-Terrible physics

-Environments aren't as interactive as 1st game

-Waggle Quicktime events are long and annyoing.

-Button mapping isn't very good

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Finally Some Force Unleashed 2 Wii Footage

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Something You Don't See Every Day

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Gaming's Biggest Bandwagons.

Bandwagons are present in almost all forms of entertainment, from film, comic books, sports, and even games. Lets take a look at gaming's biggest bandwagons.


Wii Hate.

When the Wii was announced the gaming world was shocked. That early shocked didn't seem to last. Try mentioning that you own and enjoy playing with the Nintendo Wii on the internet and witness the bandwagon first hand. When a Wii game is well received someone is bound to say "time to dust it off". Isn't interesting that the same people keep claiming that their Wii's are gathering dust, where is all this dust coming from? The saying is getting old, and it is even more irritating when "professional" gaming journalist use the term- it makes you sound wagon rider. The wagon riding doesnt end there. When an interesting Wii game is revealed immediately someone is asking for a port, claiming there isn't anything on the system to warrant a buy. Irony?


Can't Spell Ignorant without IGN.

Ok we get it. Your favorite game received .5 less then you wanted, therefore the only reasonable explanation is there is a grand conspiracy to make sure your favorite company gets the short hand of the stick. Clearly X company is paying X reviewers.




Motion Controllers

Remember all that Wii hate that was discussed earlier. Get ready for the Biggest bandwagon. Waggle ruined this game, motion controls are for kids, DS3/360 controller is the best no need for motions, its all just gimmicks. Then Move and Kinect showed up and everyone had an epiphany motion controls are cool.

Sonic Sucks.


Remember those golden days when Sonic games were good? Everyone seems to hate the blue guy these days. Anyone who wanted a good Sonic fix would have found it had they actually got off the bandwagon and pick these titles up.


Sonic Rush
Sonic Unleashed (Wii/PS2 version) 
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Sonic and the Secret Rings

Sonic Rush Adventure

Sonic Heroes 

Sonic Rivals  

Sonic Advance, 

Sonic Advance 2  

Sonic Advance 3

Sonic Battle

These were all well received titles that came before Sonic 4.

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How FPS control on Kinect, and it isn't pretty.

     Since the dawn of the Wii many have praised it's FPS controller setup. Metroid Prime 3, The Conduit, and Red Steel 2 have all proved how well pointer works for shooters. Now with Kinect and Move, Ps3 and 360 users can join in on the fun. Move has already shown it is capable of matching this control scheme, and now we see Microsoft attempt. Oh dear, it is not pretty.



     It appears shooters just don't work on Kinect, its a shame too because pointer controls really allow for some accurate shooting.

Feel free to express your thoughts below.

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Travis Touchdown joins the Brawl!

Brawl's Modding is alive and thriving. There has been a lot of talk amongst gamers about who should be in the next Smash Brothers. For those pleading for Travis, the homebrew community has answered your call.

You will need:

• A Wii with the HomeBrew channel installed
• Brawl
• GeckOS
• and SD card

here is the link, and enjoy these screens!

http://www.mediafire.com/?554i7hqbh16jyg2

This Mod is by BeyondYou and uses Ike's character spot in Brawl.




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House of the Dead Overkill - A Look Back

House of the Dead Overkill is a on-rails exclusive Wii game. The game holds a 81.1% average on GameRankings and overall was positively received. This game along with MadWorld and Conduit are always used as example of how poorly M (and T for Conduit) rated games sell on Nintendo Machine. Although its been quite some time since this game shipped, it is still being used as an example- its time to see how its been doing.

The game sold 37,760 units in its first week and has since then been deemed a failure. It is important to note that a lot of games follow this trend. The get release sell modestly and develop long legs. Currently the game has sold       705,074 worldwide. That is an impressive amount for a being a mature title on the Wii, but it is also a mature rail shooter- which is a niche market. Michael Patcher claims that HD games need to sell 2million to make a profit, now imagine how much this game cost to make in comparison to other HD games. Factor in the amount this game sold and its modest budget and it is clear a profit was made. Why this is still used as an example of a Wii game that "bombed"? Because Wii games sell differently then games on the other two systems, they have long slow legs.

I mention the Conduit and MadWorld earlier, let us breifly examine how those games faired.

Opening weeks

MadWorld - 68,359 

The Conduit - 82,953

Now

MadWorld - 536,051 

The Conduit - 427,210

Overkill's pattern applies perfectly to both these title. Now take into account that 'The Conduit' was a new IP, and so was MadWorld (was a M rated new IP). Yet all three titles are still considered failures by sites like IGN, Gamespot and by the gaming community. In the end it is clear that mature titles are do-able on Wii, even if the average troll seems to think differently.

Lets not even bring up Modern Warfare Reflex and World at War, which each sold over a million on Wii

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N64 Controller Support for GoldenEye?

The folks over at Eurcom seem to want every controller available for GoldenEye's return. Classic Controller, Wiimote+Nunchuck, Zapper, GameCube were all announced as supported- but apparently there is another controller that is supported.

In a recent interview at PAX Activision themselves confirmed support for the old N64 controller. Many of you may be thinking, how is it going to plug in? According to Joystick a new 3rd party adapter will be available in September. Activision clarified that N64 support will be available through 3rd party adapter. Perhaps there is a "retro" control scheme that ditches Dual Analog in favor of the original GoldenEye setup that hasn't been officially announced?

What do you think? If it was available would you play with the good old N64 controller?


Sources, skip  to 2:20 for the statement about N64 controller support.


http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/03/3-in-1-wii-controller-adapter-now-a-2-in-1-coming-out-in-septem/


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Fantastic New Aragorn's Quest Screens for Wii

Fantastic new screens for the Wii version of "Aragorn's Quest". You can really see the Battalion Wars 2 influence, can't wait to play the game!

(click to see better quality)

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Which One Will You Buy?

Its odd that I am even asking this question, a while ago the Wii had zero hockey games. Now both EA and 2K are ready to battle it out for Wii Hockey supremacy.

What 2K offers:

• Classic controller
• MotionPlus control(though I found them rather weak)
• Standard Nunchuk and Wiimote controls(my personal favorite)
• More realistic overall design
• Online
• Wii Speak

What EA offers:

• Hockey Stick controls
• Wiimote and Nunchuk controls
• Overall cleaner visuals 
• PeeWee to Pro mode

I have purchased Nhl 2k11 and I am enjoying it, I can't wait to try EA's Slapshot!

Tell me how what you would buy!

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A Look at Metroid Other M PreOrder Bonus

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Coming Soon, Metroid Other M Preorder Bonus

Expect a video about Metroid Other M, and an unboxing of the preorder bonus from GameStop.

Stay Tuned!!!

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Wii Becomes a Media Hub

People have trolled about the Wii lacking any kind of media hub,
well the homebrew community would like to say...

Stream Radio, Tv, Youtube, ShoutCast TV
Watch DVDs
Play almost all kind of videos,
Listen to music,
Look at Pictures,
and much more check it out!

http://www.wiimc.org/

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Where is the information Lucas Arts?

Wii owners by now are used to being kept in the dark about their version of multiplat games. Some attribute it to the lack of impressive sales for 3rd parties; but TFU1 on Wii was a different story it sold well. A couple weeks back I praised RedFly's progress with The Force Unleashed 2. The graphical improvements were quite impressive.

One would expect to see some game-play videos emerging from GamesCon (hands on- or some information from LucasArts themselves). One is exactly all we got.




Control wise, the game ditched the successful scheme of the first for pointer controls. More on that on a  later date. But if the game looks better then the first why so quiet?

The internet is flooded with gameplay videos of the 360/PS3 version (PC is also left in the dark), why is that so? It would appear that the HD versions are more profitable then the Wii version, therefore it gets more of the spot light, but lets look at the facts.

First is sales, the most important part of a games reception.

The PS3 version's sales total are 1,603,878 worldwide.
The 360's version total's 2.3 million copies worldwide.
The Wii version's total at 1,482,593 worldwide.

The totals of each version are quite close with the exception of the Xbox 360 version. Now what needs to be taken into account is the development cost of the HD versions in comparison to the Wii version. The Wii version was outsourced to Krome, and was developed for the PS2 and then ported to the Wii. So the Wii version which is a port of the PS2 had the same development cost as a PS2 game. This is no where near the development cost of HD games. The amount of time needed to work DMM and Euphoria, plus all the HD asset that needed to be created add up. The Wii version sold a lot and was cheaper to make.

Now for the critical reception.
The Wii version averages a 73.56 on GameRankings
The PS3 version averages a 72.69 on GameRankings
The Xbox 360 version averages a 73.88 on GameRankings

The Wii version passes the PS3 version, and is short .32 of the 360 version. The Wii version sold a lot, cost less and was as positively received as the HD version and yet Wii owners are left in the dark.

Common LucasArts, give us some info.

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Go and Watch the GameOverThinker

Aside from the brilliant AVGN by James Rolfe, the GameOverThinker is the best commentary on video games I've seen in a while.
Go and check out his latest episode "The Emperor has no Clothes"
http://gameoverthinker.blogspot.com/2010/08/episode-39-emperor-has-no-clothes.html Read more...

Live Action Metroid Commercial Screams EPIC

I really liked this commercial, the way it ties into all the cinematics of the game is outstanding.

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Conduit 2 Online Gameplay

Looks good, some nice open enviorments are always welcome. I hope you can set up matches without lock-on enabled, other then that no complaints from me. What do you think? Leave your comments and impressions below.

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Top Ten 3rd Party Graphical Achievements on Wii

While the Wii is no supreme powerhouse like its HD competitors, there are games that remind us how a game could look with some effort. Here are the top ten non-Nintendo games that remind us that a SD game can still look impressive.

Number 10: Deadly Creatures

While the game may not have sold a butt load of copies, overall the game was well received. Not only did the game have a great art-style but it had some impressive tech powering this gorgeous game. The models where incredibly detailed with fur effects and some nice texture work. Vast and varied levels for you to explore justifies this game's 10th spot.




Number 9: Darkside Chronicles

The next game on the list is Capcom's Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles. While Deadly Creatures didn't sell exceptionally well, DC sold an impressive (for a rail shooter) 632,581 copies. The game showcased some impressive visuals with great animations, and character models. This combined with the real-time lighting and CG cinematics gave the game a slick presentation, and a spot at number 9.

Number 8: No More Heroes 2

The first cell shaded beast to make the list, at number 8 is Suda51's No More Heroes 2. The game sports one of the most unique art styles to grace the system, combined with the great use of colors and ingame effects such as motion blur give this game a one of a kind look.



Number 7: Tatsunoko vs Capcom

The second cell-shaded, and second Capcom game to make the list is Tatsunoko vs Capcom. While Capcom's recent fighters have adapted a darker "black outline" look, this 2d fighter is a throwback to the colorful 2d sprites of the arcades. The game showcases some impressive attention to detail with some slick animations and great visual effects that makes launching Metsu Hadouken  greatly rewarding.

Number 6: Sonic Colors

While Sega's Sonic Colors hasn't even been released yet, the game packs a serious graphical punch. It looks like Sonic is getting some Galaxy treatment from Sega, the detail in the environments is amazing. The Engine seems to keep up with the fast paced action, giving this game an overall slick look. With visuals that can bypass the HD versions of Unleashed this game earns its 6th spot on the list.

Number 5: Monster Hunter Tri 

Here is another Capcom game makes it on the list. Monster Hunter Tri is one of the biggest and best games on the Wii. The game has ridiculously good animations that make the beasts look and feel deadly and real. Great looking environments to hunt in give this game a great outdoor atmosphere. The detail on the armor and weapons are as impressive as the giant and ferocious monsters. Monster Hunter Tri earns its spot on the list.
Number 4: Red Steel 2

Ubiosoft's Red Steel 2 slashes it way on the list, and it is the third cell-shaded game to appear. The game showcases some truly impressive artwork. The enemy design are excellent and the game is presented with a unique East meets West look. The game's engine keeps the slick animations and destruction at 60 fps. If you haven't checked out the game,  not only does it look incredible it is great fun.

Number 3: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories 

Climax's Silent Hill: Shattered Memories makes the top three. While some developers resort to a stylized look to bring the games to life, in Shattered Memories the game comes to life with an impressive real world look. The characters are able to convey emotions with the impressive facial animations. The game shows off an impressive engine capable of some great lighting and particle effects.

Number 2: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles : Crystal Bearers

Sqaure Enix's first appearance on the list makes its way through FF CC Crystal Bearers. While the game received mixed reviews from 10 all the way to 90, one thing that is certain is the games impressive visuals. The game features some of the best visuals on the system that can stand next to HD games in the same genre. The game features a giant world to explore, some great fur effects, crisp character models and great artwork. Combined with the care to detail and great cinematics Crystal Bears rightfully earns its spot as second best looking 3rd party game.

Number 1: Dead Space Extraction

The number one best looking 3rd party game on the Wii is without a doubt Dead Space Extraction. The character models are crisp, and the facial animations really convey the desperation of the characters. The game features impressive fire effects and explosions. The environment are atmospheric and the texture work is great. Lighting is especially well done and walking along the corridors is nerve racking.  The pictures may not convey everything that was just said but take a minute to watch some gameplay

videos, and if you haven't already pick the game up.
Not only are the character models insanely detailed, but all the necromorphs are subject to dismemberment. Although the game is being shipped with Dead Space 2, take the chance to see what Visceral and Eurocom were able to achieve on the Wii.





Please leave your thoughts and comments below.




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