When will WiiWare incorporate WiiSpeak?

I was thinking about picking up the WiiSpeak peripheral, but I'm hesitant because the only game that currently supports it is a game I will likely not play much (I may get it for my neice, who's an AC addict on DS, and I'll likely check it out for a bit). Aside from that, I know there's the WiiSpeak Channel, but I got over the thrill of VOIP long, long ago, so while that's cute, its not really Must-Try! to me.

But I do like voice chat, and it has been sorely missed on the Wii. Take a recent WiiWare title, Cue Sports, for example: lots of fun, great that it offers online multiplayer, but no way of chatting during the often long pauses between shots, or no way of even saying something as simple as "nice shot", etc. Just another in a long line of games that, while not neccesarily impaired by their lack of voice chat, would certainly benefit a great deal from incorporating it.

This got me thinking: other than Animal Crossing & The Conduit, what games are going to support WiiSpeak? I'm sure there are some, perhaps even many, but I know of only these two for sure. More specifically, as I'm sure that most wi-fi games going forward will have this functionality, I'm wondering if/how soon this feature will make its way into WiiWare titles. It took a little while, but the Balance Board finally seems to be getting more WiiWare support (Incredible Maze, Tetris Party, Snowboard Riot). I'm hoping that voice chat is being worked into existing yet-to be released games as I write this, but, I'm just wondering out loud here, how long? If anyone knows of anything leave a comment & link below, I'd love to hear about it, and haven't seen anything yet.

Something else I know little about, but am hopeful is possible, is backwards compatability of Wii/WiiWare titles with the Wii Speak device. While I do think this is possible, and may perhaps happen with a few select titles, I imagine it's a rather large undertaking. There could possibly have to be lines and lines of new code written for each game, and offered as a patch/download, and that's something not every developer or publisher would be willing to do. I wish it were as simple as just upgrading the firmware Oh, if only...

Just some rambling post musing over whether or not to buy the Wii Speak unit. I'm on the fence here, although I think I'm leaning towards waiting for more support. I would love to read some comments on this topic! Of course, if I do pick it up for some reason, I'll post impressions here soon after.

-Kimo

WiiWare kicks off 2009 with...one game?

Having finished the year off strong - in my opinion - with both Cue Sports & MaBoShi's Arcade, I thought that Nintendo was going to roar outta the gates to start the new year off on WiiWare, VC too, but instead it begins with a whimper. I was really expecting Evasive Space on Monday, the neat sci-fi infrared shooter-thingy from High Voltage Software, which is listed as Jan/09, or even Snowboard Riot, also listed as Jan/09, as Hudson just revealed the trailer and a bunch of info & screens from the game last week, along with launching the website for it, all stuff that usually foreshadows a games' release.

But out of nowhere comes the lone WiiWare release of 2009 so far - Sandy Beach from Konami. My response to this was much the same as yours I imagine, and it went something like this: Huh? Having just downloaded in the past couple weeks Fun! Fun! Minigolf, MaBoShi's Arcade, & Cue Sports, plus Super SFII for VC (finally picked up a 2nd Classic Controller on Boxing Day for only $14, so we had to give it a proper testing...), i think I'll be passing on this one, even though it has the benefits of both 1) being made by Konami, and 2) costing only 500 Wii Points.

It looks, well, interesting, but I've got more than enough on my gaming plate right now, not to mention the fridge is stuffed, and I've got food spoiling on the counter - a.k.a.: the Wii's memory is full, and I have games that I haven't even finished, or even played much, just sitting on my SD card, or waiting to be re-downloaded, so I could make room to check something new out.

Yeah, Nintendo, this "better than a hard drive" storage solution that you have in the wings for the new year can't come soon enough, this is getting really annoying to tell ya the truth - although I must admit that with the last firmware update the speed at which I can both download and transfer games between SD/Wii has improved dramatically - and it is honestly, sometimes, the deciding factor in why I don't get some games that come out; I go to buy, only to realise I'm outta room, and I just don't feel like doing any rearranging. I tell you this, even with the large amount of games I've purchased and downloaded for WiiWare (19) & VC (30+) already, I would have even more if I could just download without having to think about it. Hmmm, after reading that last sentence, maybe its a good thing after all...

Well, I may try this cute little game someday, somehow, but not for quite the long, long while I'm sure, as there's already WiiWare games I want to try that have come out ahead of this, and many yet to come out that are very eagerly anticipated (Cave Story, Animales de la Muerte, Gradius ReBirth, Swords & Soldiers, I'm looking at all of you!), or have my interest piqued (Bubble Bobble Wii (I'm a total sucker for anything Bubble Bobble), Battle Poker, LIT, even Snowboard Riot to tell ya the truth - could be a blast with the Balance Board). That's not even mentioning the unknown possibilities the VC has to offer (Kirby 3 was a totally out-of-nowhere surprise too, but not of the jaw-dropping variety), which can always be counted on to drain a few points here and there from me.

Well, here's hoping Nintendo sees fit to up the ante next week from one game per d/l service, unless they drop both a BIG WiiWare &/or VC game (like Smash Bros.). I for one am hoping for Evasive Space again, that looks like a lot of fun. That or the aforementioned Snowboard Riot, as I really want another game for the Balance Board other than Wii Fit & one mode in Tetris Party. Plus, it kind of looks like more fun than Shaun White does - a full retail game! I've got my fingers crossed...

-Kimo

I am once again excited about WiiWare. The floodgates of quality have been opened!

I've been totally loving WiiWare lately. I gotta admit, that after an OK start, things looked pretty bad for the service, with junk like Major League Eating, Protothea (not BAD, but no WiiWare game, that's for sure), SPOGS Racing, Pirates, and Beer Pong somehow getting released on the service. It was starting to look like a bit of a haven for shovelware, and that sucked since things started off so well with great, complete games like LostWinds and Dr. Mario, addictive digital-crack for retro gamers like me with Star Soldier R, and little casual gems like Defend Your Castle and Pop, that showed such promise for Nintendo's answer to XBLA. But lately there's been so many great, quality titles popping up on the service, just about the only games I've been playing are WiiWare games, and that is certainly not a bad thing at all.

After seemingly clearing out all the crap from the line-up over the summer, things really started to turn around in August with much better games like Wild West Guns, Homestar Runner ep.1, (neither of which I've tried yet) and a HUGE favorite around my household, Midnight Pool (Helix seemed like it may be cool, but it gets less and less fun each time you play it, and I totally regret downloading it...). But as nice as those games were, they were nothing compared to the line up of September and, so far, October, which has really revved up the WiiWare line-up into something I'd without hesitation call must-play. Sure, I downloaded the non-game/interactive-screensaver My Aquarium, but just because I thought it would entertain my 3 year old daughter (which it didn't), but I also downloaded three incrediblly AWESOME games in September as well: Mega Man 9, Art Style: Orbient, and Bomberman Blast.

All three of those were still being played daily (along with a game or ten of Midnight Pool here and there) when, last Monday, two more awesome-bombs dropped on the service in the form of Art Style: Cubello and the phenominally wonderful World of Goo, which I wish I was playing whenever I'm not playing it. Seriously, I think World of Goo is WiiWare's so-called "killer-app", you simply need to play this game if you love video games. As if five amazing games that I love to play living on my system weren't enough (had to unfourtunately erase Midnight Pool to make room for World of Goo, damn that limited storage!), this Monday sees Tetris Party get released, and there's still stuff like Space Invaders: Get Even, Alien Crush Returns, Animales de la Muerte, Swords & Soldiers, Gradius ReBirth, and at least one more Art Style game (Rotohex?) on the seemingly near horizon, all of which I have already commited myself to downloading. That's not even mentioning stuff a little further down the line that already has me drooling, like Cave Story (which can't be realeased soon enough...), or great stuff that hasn't even been announced yet (like these amazing Art Style games that just showed up outta nowhere).

I don't know when I'll put another disc in my Wii, it may not be for a while, as WiiWare totally has my gaming itch covered lately. I'll leave you with this thought: the total cost of these five games, all of which I am fully satisfied with and play frequently, is about the same or less than the cost of one new disc game. A fact which is highlighted in my house with the fact that I had just bought and was really enjoying Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - I was flying through the game actually - a couple of days before Mega Man 9 (then Orbient, then Bomberman, then World of Goo, then...), and have hardly even played it at all since. Maybe I will once I finish World of Goo. Maybe.

-Kimo

UNPAUSE!

Yep, I'm pressing the big start button on this blog and taking it outta the "paused' state it has been in for far too long. I've been kept pretty busy the last couple months, and any free time that could've been going to writing about games has been going to actually, you know, playing them.

And, I have had a lot to play the last few months, with so many great games keeping me busy, and of course that also means I've got a lot to talk about too! Pretty much the only things I've been playing for the last few months is WiiWare, DS, and XBLA, so that's what I'll be writing about. I've also been thinking about shifting the main focus of this blog towards writing mainly about digital games - WiiWare and XBLA - , DS, and just Wii in general, as those are really the four main avenues of my gaming habits.

Plus, its not like there's any shortage of gaming websites and blogs out there, so who needs one more person spouting off about big games like Gear of War 2, Fable II or other blockbuster games, when that voice could be put to better use in singing the praises of something like Braid, Bionic Commando, World of Goo, or the Art Style series. I think I'll still blog about everything gaming, of course, but I think WiiWare, XBLA and DS is where the lion's share of coverage around here is going to be headed. Oh, and Virtual Console too. I've also been finding these downloadable games to not only be more fun overall than many disc-based games of late, but also to be of tremendous value. They're so cheap!! These are good times to be a gamer, I tells ya. Much more to come soon, see ya then.

-Kimo

e3 '08: Well, it can't get much worse

Hello world, its been a while since I posted here. Two months, to be exact. Summer is always a busy time around my place - I have a huge yard to keep up with - plus I was waiting to write about all the cool stuff I didn't know about yet until after e3. Wow, what a huge disappointment that show was. The only really 'big' announcements from the big three were; Final Fantasy XIII and Mii's, er, 'Avatars', are coming to 360, WiiMotionPlus and WiiSpeak peripherals/functionality for Wii, and God of War 3 and "Massive Action Game" for PS3. Oh yeah, and GTA on DS. I mean, other than a bunch of stuff we already knew about, for the most part, that was it for "wow" at this year's e3, when comparing to year's past. Well, personally there was huge wow factor for me when Microsoft unveiled Galaga Legions for XBLA, designed by the geniuses behind Pac-Man: CE. I looooooove me some Galaga, and if they can do for it what they did for Pac-Man, this game is gonna rule. I'm a little skeptical going off the early video they showed, but who knows, I've got my fingers crossed...

I've been looking forward to the 'big show' every year since the big show was CES and e3 didn't even exist yet, and this was by far the least exciting 'big show' ever. I don't know why the focus has shifted so much by the whole industry, but this is no longer a show for the gamers or gaming press. This is a show for mainstream media nowadays, and it kinda sucks. Well, it sucks if you let yourself get excited for it based on past experiences, that is. But this is the new reality for our favorite hobby that has now gone more mainstream than ever before. Another part of the new reality is that there isn't one 'big show' for the year, but a number of big shows throughout the year (PAX, GDC, e3, TGS, etc..), where information can be revealed closer to release dates. That's just the way it is now, but its too bad that the big companies have decided to trim down their e3 showings this much. I miss the spectacle and excitement of too much information to process in such a short amount of time like there has been at past shows, F5-ing screens like crazy. Oh well.

I do hope that all this negative press about this years show leads to some kind of improvement for next year's show (which has already been confirmed to be taking place). It really, from a gamer's perspective, can't get any worse than this years. I mean, this is my post - for my VideoGaming blog - on e3 - the big VideoGaming show - and its already finished due to lack of excitement to talk about stuff. That`s kind of sad...

-Kimo

Viva la Star Soldier R

I have been absolutely loving/cursing this game to bits since it released a couple weeks back. This game totally pwns me right now, I don't do much else when I have free time other than try to beat my high score in the 2-min mode. Currently I'm 5th in Canada, 17th in North America, and 474th in the World with my score of 1,010,700, using the name KiMO. Even with that score, which I know is pretty good (World Record at the moment is from Japan - like about 90% of the other scores - and is 1,122,100), I can see all kinds of room for improvement, and that's one of the things I love about this game. Even if you've played hundreds and hundreds of runs, as I have by now, you always see spots where you could've gotten 'just a few more points' that could've helped out a lot.

This is a total 'just one more try' game if I've ever played one, even if it's mostly the kind of game that would really only appeal to either high score whores or shooter junkies (guilty as charged on both counts, btw). The ease at which you can restart a level if you make an error (just press + & - together for a quick restart from the beginning), while a total godsend really, also serves to extend my gaming sessions way longer than I had anticipated, as the goal of "just one or two 2-minute runs" often turns into 20 or more aborted half-runs before even completing one to satisfaction. So in other words, 15 minutes or more just to finish one 2-minute run. Like I said at the beginninng, loving & cursing it. Plus, add in the fact that this game really works awesome w/the classic controller (the only way to play it IMHO, as analog just feels too loose + imprecise. Digital FTW!), and that means that I've been having some real wicked cases of "Nintendo Thumb" the last couple weeks.

Yes, this game is an endless source of fodder for perfectionists, a real hardcore gamers' game, and I don't think it's really getting the respect it deserves from the gaming media. Perhaps I'll write a review eventually that approaches the game from the proper perspective (which I think is what most of these reviews are missing), but first I have to get over my 2-minute run addiction and play some of the 5-minute mode (which I've honestly only tried twice so far, compared to the bajillion 2-minute runs I've made/started....).

The last time I was hooked this much on one game, to the exclusion of playing almost any other games, was either with Picross DS or Puzzle Quest. On a home console I'd say since not since Pac-Man: Championship Edition (which I still absolutely need to have released for DS w/wifi leaderboards already!!! Get on it Namco-Bandai!), which had me hopelessly addicted for weeks and weeks on end, trying to eek out a few more points here and there. Star Soldier R reminds me so, so much of Pac-Man: CE, actually, kinda like WiiWare's version of either that or Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved on XBLA; that is, a short session, old-school game design, centered around getting the highest score in the land, that still feels fresh, and can have you totally and helplessly addicted.

I had been playing copious amounts of Mario Kart on my Wii prior to Star Soldier R being released, but I haven't even had one race, online or off, since I downloaded it. We just got Conan (360) last week, and my brother has been playing it like a madman ever since, and I want to try it, but like I said, any time for gaming lately is an opportunity to beat that score. Hey, it's only 2-minutes....

-Kimo (KiMO on the leaderboards, look for me @ #1 soon...heh...)

Allez Cuisine!!

It's been awhile since I posted anything on here, but this is my kind of news, and I just needed to have somewhere to yell YESSSSSSSS! Iron Chef is coming to Wii!! Well, Iron Chef America that is, but still, count me in. Ever since the Wii came out, me and my wife have thought about how awesome (potentially...) an Iron Chef Wii game would be, but I didn't really ever think there'd be a chance one would be made. I even thought that if one were made, it would be Japan-only, and based on the original (which would be, honestly, way, waaaay cooler), so this is a really good surprise, and perhaps a testament to the series' popularity in North America. I know we are not alone in absolutely loving this show, apparently. Hmmm, I hope it has WiFi Connection support....

I also hope that this isn't just a Cooking Mama clone, and is instead a quality, fully-developed Wii product that does this series justice. I'll hold off on any further speculation until more info is released, but at this point I think I'm looking forward to this even more than Mario Kart Wii, GTA4, MGS4, whatever! Well, I may be getting a little carried away here, but I'm a pretty huge Iron Chef fan, what can I say. I've actually been anticipating this for a while, though I realistically thought it would never actually happen. Kinda like my own personal Duke Nukem Forever, but this will actually come out. Zing!

I intend to post something here everytime I hear news about this game, my modest contribution towards helping this game find its audience, sell a ton, and hopefully start a franchise (with the wishfull possiblity of 'classic' Iron Chef on Wii...), as I'm sure coverage of this game won't be all that huge (it will likely be derided by some as yet another 'casual' game), so I'll do my best to help the game out (like anyone reads this blog...but I digress..). I sure hope it comes together and doesn't reek of Wii cash-in, I really, really do. Until next time, enjoy this teaser trailer announcing the game (complete with Marc Dacascos!).

CDN Retailer Selling Rock Band...for $500.00 a pop!!!

That, apparently, is $18,000 worth of Rock Band Special Edition for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, or it will be if it is all sold at Canadian retailer Play Me, in West Edmonton Mall. You may have heard that the Canadian shipments of Rock Band have been deleayed until the 20th at the earliest (some stores say that the date is the 28th), but you can buy 'em here in Edmonton, if you don't mind spending more than you paid for the console you'll be playing it on in the first place. See, this Play Me store has always used this lame excuse that they order all their stuff from the States, and that has always been reflected in their high prices (I can remember seeing Quest 64 (!) there for $100.00, to give you an example), but this really takes the cake. Knowing they're likely one of the only retailers in all of Canada to have these highly coveted packages for sale (indeed, if you ask them, they say they're the only place in Canada you can find it this year), they've jacked the price up more than double any price I've seen it reach yet on eBay for the very same package. Asking someone to pay $500 bucks for this is a straight-out crime, no matter how great the game may be. Especially considering you'll be able to buy it at any Wal-Mart or Zellers in less than a week for much less. I guess some might say you can't blame 'em for trying, but not me, I despise them for trying. Seriously, to try and outright gouge your customer base like that (especially while under the guise of being a true enthusiasts' store) is just wrong. If anyone out there gave these crooks Five Hundred Bucks for this this, I do feel sorry for you, but its really your own fault, as you're a big ol' stupid idiot with too much money. Sorry.

For shame, Play Me, for shame.....

- Kimo

Here's some more pictures:

Most Ridiculous Wii Peripheral Yet?

Possibly, as I don't know what purpose this will serve other than crappy last-minute christmas present. Can you imagine how fast you'd go from "oh, cool" to "ahh, I see" upon opening this on X-mas morning? And for the same price as an amazing game like Zack & Wiki or Geometry Wars? Wow, what a rip-off. "Compatible with all Wii games", except, that is, all those Wii games that use IR at all, which almost every good Wii game does. I find it funny that Zellers' marketing department see's any benefit in advertising this as an "Exclusive" item, like it'll drive people into stores. Then again, someone must be buying all this lame, useless 3rd party Wii crap, as it just keeps coming out, so who knows....
- Kimo

Tis the season for some rare posting...

There has been no time for me to have anything to do with the internets lately, but it seems that I'm not going to be having as much time problems in the future as I have been the last few months, and I can begin updating this blog regularly, finally. Yeah, that makes sense. Anyways, 'tis the season as they say, and while getting prepared for the holidays has certainly been a big part of the reason there's such a lack of content on here, there's also the fact that everyone who knows me knows I'm a huge gamer, so when X-mas, or B-days, or whatever roll around, the go-to gift for me is games. Sounds awesome eh? Well, it is, for the most part. The only downer to this is that I'm under embargo for a month and a half, and I can't buy myself anything until after the 25th of Dec., just so I don't buy myself something someone bought me. There are always exceptions, such as games you 'd like, but know nobody's gonna pick up for you for x-mas, so while I've been enjoying games like Dementium - The Ward, and Contra 4 (which is unbelievably awesome), I must wait to see what happens in 9 days until I get to rip into Mario Galaxy or The Orange Box or a whole bunch of other great AAA titles. Oh well, its almost here, and at least Contra 4 is frickin' wicked cool, and I still have Zelda:PH to finish 'till then :) (DS is all I have had time for lately, other than Guitar Hero 3 sessions)

So, I just wanted to bang out this little bumper here, 'cause I got a couple 'news items' to post tonight, and wanted to break the ice from my month long silence with this rambling little post. And with that, I'm off to post said items. See ya.

-Kimo

Yeah, EB Sucks In Canada Too.

I love Penny Arcade‘s comics Love them. So funny, so well done, and ever-topical, I try to never miss a strip. If you consider yourself a gamer, their site is weekly required reading. So good. After reading their latest comic, I always read their posts that accompany each one, and after reading their latest , I thought I’d let Gabe know that EB sucks up here in Canada too, as I had almost the exact experience a couple weeks back.

My brother and I were both intent on picking up Guitar Hero III on launch day, both of us being hooked on GH2 previously. He was getting the 360 stand-alone title (no need for another guitar), while I was gonna pick up the Wii guitar bundle pack, so that we could either rock upstairs in the living room with the whole family (where the Wii is), or in our classic gaming ’dungeon’ downstairs (where the 360 resides), also (and more importantly), we wouldn’t have to wait for our own turn anymore! Go play your own damn copy! That was the plan.

We got there early, ‘cause I thought there would be a line up (Moki, my bro, didn’t think there would be, oh so naïve…), but there wasn’t. At first. Soon there was a line-up 35-strong, probably closer to 40 , 45, maybe more, with Moki and I at the front. Cool. I can’t recall the last time I was first in line for something this anticipated. Man I was happy we came early. The place opened up (3 minutes late, btw) and I bounced on in past the stacks of boxed GH3 bundles straight to the counter, all excited and smiling like a goofball, and I ask him if today’s the day the new Hannah Montana game comes out on DS. Hey says “huh?”, and I tell him “nah, never mind, I’m just trying to be funny, I’m just kidding. I want the Wii Guitar Hero III bundle please”, to which he quickly asks me (without missing one goddamned beat), “Got a Pre-Order?” I tell him No, he says “then we’re all sold out.” Just like that.

The frickin' place just opened, I’m the first goddamned person in the store, to buy a game that’s released that very day, and he tells me that the boxes and boxes of GHIII littering the store all around me are sold-out. What a motherlovin’ joke. I was just about speechless. “Really? Are you frickin’ serious about this? All of them?”, that was all I could say, “yep, you should have pre-ordered it.” Well, my brother got his stand-alone copy, and I got back in line, after first leaving the store in angry disbelief, and picked up Zack & Wiki (God I’m happy I did, as it is so many flavours of awesome), and we went home, with me cursing EB all the way.

Seriously, that’s just nuts, to not stock any extra copies of a game with that much drawing power, for all your walk-up traffic. WTF? I am well aware of EB’s general evil-ness, it is well documented all over the web (as well as by the aforementioned PA), but this was the first time I personally have been stung by them this bad, and its ridiculous. I could fill another couple posts with choice words for EB and what I think about this situation, but I would think its obvious how stupid decisions like this are, and only further cements their business’ reputation in gamers’ eyes as greedy, corporate, asshats that don’t give a damn about their customer base one bit. So you see Gabe, these glorified pawn shops are just as ridiculous here in Canada as they are down south, and no, its not just you.

- Kimo

Ask and Ye Shall receive....

….or so it would seem, as I had just posted a rant questioning Nintendo’s lack of Super Mario Galaxy hype, when they go and, first -and more subtly - release Super Mario Bros. 3 for Virtual Console in honour of Galaxy’s impending arrival, then they finally unload the long-awaited (by me anyways) commercial for it upon the airwaves and interwebs. ‘Bout time Nintendo, what took so long? As I originally feared, it continues the “Wii would like to play” series of ads, but its not as bad as I thought it would be. Still, I think they should have gone a different path with Galaxy’s ads, more in line with the terrific Japanese commercials. Perhaps for Smash Bros. I guess, as I’m not sure how that game will fit into the mould of the “Wii would like to play” style. Here’s a couple videos to compare, the just released North American commercial, and one of the Japanese commercials, which one do you prefer?




I like the “video-gamey” feel of the Japanese version, how about you?

-Kimo

Explaining this Blog's Review Scoring System

Every once in a while here I like to offer my 2 cents on whether or not I think a game is worth your hard-earned dollars, and ever-valuable time. Now, its not like there’s a shortage of video game reviews out there, but I honestly feel there’s many that aren’t very good, and quite often I wish to yell many inventive and colourful expletives in the general direction of whomever authors these “reviews’ I read online. But I figure why complain about it, instead, try to do something to help the situation. So here I am, hopefully writing good, relatively well-written reviews to help the cause of educating gamers everywhere, in an intelligent, non-fan boy-ish manner, on how to better spend their gaming dollars.

Now I prefer a non-graded, non-rating type of review system. A well written review should speak for itself, and a simple number, or grade, can never encompass or convey the entirety of a review, if it’s thought-provoking, well written, or otherwise enlightening in some way. Far too many people gloss over the entire review, to get straight to its “score”, and base everything off that one number, or grade, or number of stars, or whatever. I also feel that many online don’t really understand the real reasons why a game gets the score that it does get, the rationale behind it, that is, and overreact when they see a game they were looking forward to get a 7 on some site, thinking that’s a bad score. Weren’t you happy when you got 70% on your Math test in school? Its well over passing, what makes it a bad score? Well, according to the internets anything less than 80% is a fail, apparently. Sure, I could blame certain sites, as others have, but its still a pretty widespread problem in the video game review industry (online, anyways) to throw around 80 & 90%’s pretty damn commonly.

So I’ve avoided them completely up until now. In an effort to enhance the visibility of my little blog here, and try to help even out crazy scores, I’ll be submitting my reviews to various review-gathering websites out there. The thing is, you’ve gotta have a Ratings system that they can use in their rankings of a game’s overall score. It makes sense, how else could they compile an average, right? It’s the whole point of those sites. I used the common 10-point scale, 10 being the highest, 1 the lowest, which is easily converted to % points if need be. What follows is an outline for how games will earn the score they’re given, which will be awarded at the end of each review. There will be a link to this post in each review as well.

Yet Another Site of Mine’s Game Scoring Guide

10: Much like how 100% on an essay does not imply perfection in the sense that it couldn’t have possibly been written any better, a game receiving a 10 is not necessarily perfect per-se, but is as close to it as possible in video gaming. A revolutionary title, that changes the way we play, or even how we look at video games. You will likely never see a game receive this score on this site, as its not a score to be tossed around lightly, but know that it is theoretically possible.

9 : An absolutely incredible gaming experience from beginning to end. The reason you started playing video games in the first place. Only incredibly teeny-tiny, nit-picking, minor, yet still noticeable, issues (slight slowdown or frame rate drops here or there, a camera system that occasionally suffers in rare situations, not a very original story, little stuff like that) prevent these titles from getting a 10, but only just barely. Should be considered “practically getting a 10”, that’s how good a game getting a 9 would be. Absolute ‘must-buy’ games, that any gamer should play, regardless of genre or preference. A score for Game of the Year candidates.

8: See the criteria for a 9, but with a just few more noticeable issues that can pull you out of the game from time to time, yet they don’t necessarily ruin an otherwise excellent gaming experience. Games that score an 8 should still be considered fantastic, top-tier games worthy of your time, that are largely worth overlooking whatever their problems may be. Perhaps it’s a simply glorious experience that’s over far too quickly with little replay value, or the multi-player aspect doesn’t work as well as the single player, or the camera system screws up a little more than rarely, but not enough to be broken and unplayable, merely just occasionally inconvenient, requiring a little work to get around. Issues like those. Games scoring an 8 would still absolutely be considered ‘must-buy” across the board, with possibly a few exceptions here and there that would depend more heavily on genre preference. Still a very high score, and a truly great video game.

7: Well produced, solidly crafted, and fun to play, but lacking a whole lot more beyond that. These games are like sequels that don’t ruin the experience, but don’t expand it either, they merely offer an extension of something that’s already proven to work, with a few new features or additions more akin to refinement. Still to be considered a high score for any game to receive, and should not be taken lightly by any means, but not the kind of game to set the industry, or even a particular genre, on fire with its ideas, concepts, or gameplay. A solid, well-made game that is definitely deserving of your time, but could use just a bit more polish in spots to take it from ‘really good“ to “great“.

6: A definite above-average game, that is still playable and fun, but may require you to look past a few more issues to find that enjoyment. Still good games, titles that score a 6 don’t look to offer new experiences to gamers, but rather rehash previous proven experiences in new packaging, or if they do attempt to offer something new, possibly one or two areas feel rather underdeveloped and hold it back. It may also be so genre-specific, or niche-marketed, that widespread must-buy enthusiasm may only apply to a select few, which could also apply to some games scoring 7‘s as well. These are still fun, good games, but often what you see is what you get, and not much else.

5: These games aren’t really trying, but just barely make a passing grade, due to graphical prowess that impresses in spite of lacklustre game play, inspired ideas lurking beneath an overall un-inspired design, or completely re-hashing or porting something already proven adequately enough, with little-to-no additions or enhancements at all, and sometimes even losing features along the way. If you’re bored with your current collection, or between big-releases and looking for something new, and find one of these in the bargain bin for cheap, give it shot and you’ll most likely enjoy it a wee bit, possibly an afternoon or three, but quickly forget about it . A rental, and that’s about it, unless it’s a series you follow, or are a fan of, and need everything that’s released in its franchise.

4: Definitely below-average. These games take proven ideas and genres and mangle them, offering uninspired, derivative gameplay that often feels more like work than having fun playing a game. These games feel like they needed a few more weeks in development or testing, and often have bugs that hamper gameplay and fun. Think most licensed shovel ware. There may be some fun to be had, but not much, and its usually quite shallow. Possibly a rental, and usually never any more than that.

3: These games may look good in spots, they may even feature big-name characters or franchises, or come from high-profile publishers, but are not any fun to play. These are the games with broken controls, that frustrate the hell out of you because you’re doing what you’re supposed to, but its not translating on the screen. A rushed, or very badly produced/poorly thought-out game is what you’ll find on the receiving end of this score. A game to avoid if you don’t want to throw your controller across the room in a fit of rage.

2: Absolute digital garbage, not worth any gamers time. The games that make you simply wonder why it was ever shipped. Any redeeming qualities these games may have is easily overshadowed by problem after problem, that render the final product, if not un-playable, completely un-enjoyable. Avoid at all costs if you enjoy video games. These games make Miyamoto cry.

1: Worst of the worst. Take a game that receives a 2, strip away whatever redeeming qualities it did have, leaving only an unplayable mess in its place, and you have the lowest of the low. Do not buy, even if you see it at a yard sale for a quarter, save it for a phone call.

0: A “Video Game” in name only, with no characteristics of actual ‘video gaming’ to be found. I hope to never have to ‘award’ this score to any game I play, it would shake my faith in the industry.

All games are scored against others in their genre, and consideration is of course given to which system they are published for, whenever applicable. Any score, other than 10 obviously, may have a .5 added onto it, as some games walk a fine line between a 7 and an 8, for example. I think its all rather obvious, and it’s really the internet standard system these days. But here it is, officially, so enjoy, and always feel free to comment.

-Kimo

Nintendo Wii (or Wü?) Wannabe Zapper Light Gun Review

I don’t know about any of you, but I intend on picking up the Nintendo Zapper- the plastic shell-cum-light gun cradle thingy that holds your Wiimote and nunchuk Tommy-Gun style - when its released later this month, even if only for the freebie Zelda-themed Crossbow shooting game that’s packaged with it. I was kinda iffy about it (I loved - and miss - the original design from E3 2006) until they surprised me with that announcement, and the prospect of shootin’ up some zombies and other blastables via Link and his crossbow sealed the deal for me. Ghost Squad from SEGA looks pretty damn good too, as does MOH2’s nice bonus old-school arcade mode, not to mention I’ll most likely end up owning RE: Umbrella Chronicles too, as I’m a sucker for that series in general. Sure I could (and likely will) play all these games without the extra moulded plastic hardware, but part of me feels that, hopefully, these games have been designed with the zappers’ unique layout in mind, and may actually play a little better, or be a little bit more fun, with the zapper as opposed to without. Probably not, but I intend on finding out when it’s finally released, as I’ve been a Light Gun gaming fan for years, and would love to see it replicated with the Wii Remote, as it seems a rather natural fit.

Imagine my delight then, when the other day upon finally waking up (I work graveyard shifts and sleep the days that I work, see), I find that a friend of mine had stopped by and dropped off a little gift for me, and it was a light gun cradle for the Wiimote. Here’s a couple pictures of the package it came in:

I got a chuckle from the classic engrish on the packaging, and their interesting take on the spelling of “Wii” (how the hell are you supposed to pronounce that?), but quickly got down to the business of tearing into it and trying it out. There is an input for the nunchuk on the bottom of the butt of the gun, which according to the packaging must be connected before the remote, not too sure why though, but whatever, it’s a good spot for it, and so far I was pleased. But then I was to soon learn something that would simultaneously become both one of the biggest knocks against this knock-off, and my biggest, newest concern about the official zapper itself: the Wiimote doesn’t fit inside the cradle if you’re using the blessed Nyko rechargeable battery paks. That is a huge, huge strike against it, and something that hadn’t actually even crossed my mind about Ninty’s offering until now.

Luckily I have a third Remote that came with Wii Play, that I still use batteries for (the Nyko charger only comes w/two paks.), I slid it in and it fit like a glove. I fired up the aforementioned game and went immediately to the shooting gallery game, which I thought would be a perfect fit. The gun itself adds a little (but not too much) weight to the remote, and it feels pretty good overall. Feels solid and generally well-built for what it is. Upon playing the game I discovered the biggest complaint against this product; the frustratingly-way-too-damn-slow unresponsive trigger. Seriously, the ‘targets’ and ‘alien’ levels were infuriating, and I was having really no fun using this gun with this game, as the trigger mechanism is just too slow. After a couple more rounds, and right-pissed off at this frickin’ gun, I tried a couple more rounds w/just the remote itself and more than doubled my previous sad, low scores when it was docked. “Why does this suck so much?”, I thought, and investigated the trigger mechanism. There’s a bit of plastic that moves back when you pull the trigger, and it in turn presses the B button on the Wiimote. Eventually. This is what it looks like:



What you can‘t see in these pictures, is that the time it takes for the trigger to move all the way back to its starting position, and back to finally press the B trigger is woefully inadequate for quality gaming, but I still thought I could make it work, so I gave it another go. I tried playing by keeping my finger pressed on the trigger, and not letting it recoil all the way, so I could keep the mechanism relatively close to the trigger at all times, resulting in, hopefully, quicker shots. While this did kinda work to some small extent, it is not in any way preferable to playing sans-gun, as you never quite keep your finger in that small ‘sweet spot’ the trigger needs to fire off successive rounds, and kinda makes playing it, you know, not fun. This gun was making my finger cramp up already, and I’d only been playing for about 10 minutes or less.

So, it kinda sucks with Wii Play, would it work with something else? Well, possibly I guess, but not with any of the most-likely games I have and tried. You can forget about using this with either Metroid Prime 3, Red Steel, Call of Duty 3, Transformers, or The Godfather, that’s for sure, as you simply need to use more buttons on the Wiimote than just the B button, which is pretty much all you have access to with this set-up. I went through that frustration for you already with each game, and no fun was had doing so. Don’t even think about trying Elebits with this, as you need more speed than this can offer, and it will kill your finger trying to keep up. This is not “playing easily, playing happily”, as the package had promised. Perhaps the game plays well with Splinter Cell Double Agent, since Sam Fisher is so prominently displayed on the packaging, but I don’t own that (apparent) shovelware clunker, and I highly doubt that it does anyways. The only game that was tolerable at all with the gun attached was Rayman Raving Rabbids’ shooting stages, since they move at a slow enough pace, and even then it was much less fun with the gun than it is without it, leading me to wonder exactly when I would ever use this hunk of white plastic again.

Probably never, which sucks, ‘cause I likely won’t be buying a 2nd zapper just for 2-player games (I do only need one copy of X-bow training, after all), and this could’ve been a neat alternate, but this is only really any good if you’re looking to handicap someone during a match, thus ensuring your victory. Otherwise, in my opinion, don’t drop your cash on this cash-in, as I guarantee you will regret it. No, in my humble opinion its likely better to wait and spend the wee-bit extra on the official plastic remote cradle that comes free with your purchase of Link’s Crossbow Training (or is that the other way around?). And, lets all just keep our fingers crossed that the official gun allows remotes with Nyko chargers attached, as I am now a little concerned about that. That would pretty much kill it for me, as I am done with batteries in my Wiimotes, and swear by the Nyko paks.

-Kimo

As an added bonus, here’s some more entertaining pictures of the packaging, and of the gun itself:

Should Someone Tell Nintendo That Super Mario Galaxy Drops on Nov. 12th??

Man, I’m so totally stoked for Super Mario Galaxy. I can’t wait. Even my wife, traditionally a rather casual gamer, is really looking forward to it, having finally seen it in motion and instantly having the urge to play it. But this wasn’t because she saw a commercial for it while watching TV. Oh no, for her to even know about it, I had to tell her, and then show her the Japanese commercial on YouTube to explain all the crazy things I was trying to describe. Same thing for my niece, sister, friends, etc., I showed them all these grainy internet flash videos, and now they’re all anticipating its arrival quite eagerly as well. You see this game, any stage, you instantly want to play it. Its got mad drawing power. But a few days ago they didn’t know anything about it at all. Isn’t this odd for a game that will be released in less than two weeks?!?!

Well I for one certainly think so, but that’s just how Nintendo rolls these days, now keen on the ultra-low-key approach. There seems to be some kind of over-confidence at Nintendo of America that all of their games will sell millions on the merits of word-of-mouth alone. That they don’t even have to show them. They missed the hype-boat for Metroid Prime 3 by a mile, and tried to make up for it with a “Month of Metroid”, but as much as I and other like-minded gamers appreciated that, what about those folks who’s Wii’s aren’t online, it was useless in getting the message to them, or even to people who don’t have a Wii, to which MP3 could’ve been a system seller? They got this ridiculous commercial to try and win them over with. I say ridiculous because I don’t think that an IP like Metroid is properly marketed with the ‘Blue Ocean’ philosophy that works for the rest of the Wii ads. Metroid is not the game to try and rope in new gamers with. I mean, for example, those people shown playing the game in the commercial would likely quit playing after 15-30 minutes upon realising the time investment ahead of them, and the intense gameplay involved in playing it. And to most gamers, that commercial wasn’t going to be the deal maker that made you want it. Quite the opposite could happen I’d think, as it may give the appearance that the game has been watered down to accommodate a wider audience (which isn’t the case, btw). In other words; this commercial did not fit the game being advertised, at all, in my opinion. Especially when you compare it against these other examples in the franchises’ history. This is the same company?

This is the same company that gave us this truly classic Mario ad, or this one for Super Mario 64, which properly hyped the revolution that it was in gaming? The same company that helped produce an entire movie just to hype and advertise Super Mario Bros.3? And they’re gonna stay mum on Super Mario frickin’ Galaxy, a game that looks like the Mario game to beat all Mario games? Not even a ‘Month of Mario’ or Mario Channel like Metroid had? I don’t get it. You’re leading the industry right now, why not make a little noise, stick your chest out and start pounding on it, yelling “look how awesome I am, look what I can do, this is why I‘m here to stay”, or whatever, instead of keeping things practically secret? Don’t you want people to know about these amazing games you’re making?

Let’s look at some of Microsoft’s recent marketing. Yes, the ad campaign for Halo 3 was overblown, but you’ve gotta admit that those series of ads were epic, and likely even generated interest from folks that don‘t know Master Chief from Laura Croft, but knew that it looked fun/interesting/important in someway. Whether or not you’re totally sick of this series of ads, you can’t deny how great they are/were in scope, and how much confidence in their product MS showed with them. I also totally love the new 360 commercials that are currently running, the one with Nothin’ But a Good Time playing over it. I like a lot of things about it, but I mention it here because you’ll notice that one of the games featured in the ad is Mass Effect, which isn’t released until Nov. 20th, but has been being advertised in this commercial for a while now. Its already being showcased as one of the games to be playing on your 360 before you ever see the first real ad for it. Subtle, but smart.

Sony too, has been improving with their ads, which used to be nearly incomprehensible at times, or downright creepy. Heavenly Sword was sufficiently hyped by its ad, I think, which was alright. I really enjoy this ad for Ratchet & Clank: Future too, and think Nintendo should be taking notes for its eventual Galaxy commercial from this one, as I feel its fantastic and one of my new favourite gaming commercials ever. Quite well done. But the best from Sony has got to be this recent PS3 ad. Wow. That’s one sleek video game commercial there! While there’s a lot to like about this one as well, the aspect worth pointing out as it pertains to this topic is thus: PS Home, while delayed until sometime in 2008, is largely showcased in this commercial. Again, that’s just smart, its getting the word out way ahead of time and claiming a bit of mindshare in a cluttered environment. More people are potentially aware of PlayStaton Home, which, again, is due next year, than are potentially aware of Super Mario Galaxy, out in nine days!! Cuh-razy.

My only other concern regarding Galaxy’s marketing, aside from the apparent complete lack of it, is that it will follow in Metroid’s footsteps, and be presented in the same style. Look, I like the “Wii Would Like to Play” ads, and Ninty’s new direction as a whole. I really do, it was a breath of fresh air, and who am I to argue anyways, its obviously working well for them. I like knowing that hearing that cool Kodo music means a Wii commercial is coming. I’m not attacking their style or new image here. No, I’m just saying that not all Wii games released should follow the same marketing style, as Metroid proved that it just doesn’t gel with everything. And me-thinks that Galaxy would be better suited to another style of marketing as well, more like the Japanese commercials, that keep the focus on the game, not who’s playing it or how they’re playing it, but why you want to play it. But I won’t hold my breath waiting for that, I’m pretty sure that whenever the ad is released it will follow suit with the rest of Nintendo’s Wii ads.

I guess we’ll see if that works, or if I’m wrong and they do a totally Mario-worthy commercial for it, whenever they finally DO release it upon the masses, which has gotta be pretty soon. But then again, another worthy Wii title, Battalion Wars II, is still MIA on the airwaves, but already in stores, so who knows. Nintendo, why don’t you want everybody to know about all these great games? Its very confusing….

- Kimo

50,000 Views?? Wow!!!

It was basically just for kicks. Seriously, I didn’t think it would ever get that high of a view count, or that much attention. What the hell am I talking about you say? Well, back when the Wii was first announced, and really digging at the time where Nintendo was going with gaming this generation, I came up with this little parody of Queen’s We Will Rock You, and called it - wait for it - Wii Will Rock You. Yes, I know, originality at its best, for sure. But hey, it was just a fun little one-off idea I had. Of course hundreds of other people had the exact same idea at the same time, and also flooded the internets with it, but I made mine unique with new lyrics, making it, you know, a true parody of sorts. It made me laugh, what can I say, so I actually recorded it (by some seriously archaic methods), despite not possessing the talent to actually sing, mind you, and slapped together a little video of my own to upload. It was just a fun little fan video, and I had a fun time writing it, and putting it together. I knew some other Nintendo fans may see it, I did put it on YouTube after all, but I never thought the views would climb over 50 frickin’ thousand! That’s amazing, and consider me blown away. I’m even more surprised that its received so many kind words in the comments, and maintained a 4 ½ star rating through it all. Pretty cool. So, I’d really like to say thank you, internets, glad you (mostly) liked it.

However, there is something I’d like to say about this particular video & song though, since this is a perfect opportunity to do so, and that is that this is not as fanboy-ish as it may appear to be, or that you may be led to believe by reading through the numerous comments (btw, there are just over 440 comments for this video). No, rather it was my critique of where I saw the video gaming industry going heading into this generation, not what I wished or hoped necessarily, but just what I think would play out. I intentionally didn’t say anything really disparaging or hateful about the other companies if you really listen to the lyrics, which I tried really hard to rhyme with or mimic the original lyrics as close as possible. So, this is what I‘m gonna do, I’ll break the song down completely for you, these are the lyrics for the song (with the original lyrics in parentheses underneath):

*** Please keep in mind that this was written around Aug or Sept 2006 ***

Sony’s got a toy with a big price, prayin’ their machines’ gonna be the big gun some day.
(Buddy you’re a boy make a big noise, playin’ in the street gonna be a big man some day)

But they’ll have egg on their face, they’ll cry in disgrace, if Blu-Ray ends up losing this new Beta race.
(You got mud on your face, you big disgrace, kickin your can all over the place)

Translation: PS3 cost over $600 ($700+ here in Canada) when it came out. For a video game machine. For, technically speaking, an electronic toy. And of course they hoped it would be the #1 machine. But they would look pretty bad if it failed due to Blu-Ray not catching on as widely as they had hoped, like what happened to them with Betamax in the 80’s. No bashing, no ridiculous comments, just a thought of what could happen to them this generation, ‘cause they seemed to be going after a different market altogether that Nintendo, or even Microsoft, was. Read: they shouldn’t underestimate Nintendo this generation, or be so confident that people will spend whatever on anything PlayStation, as has been the case thus far in the past, because the Blu-Ray drive in the PS3 initially drives the price too high for the average gamer, and that will look like a poor decision should Blu-Ray fail. Whew! That’s what those two lines meant, not “OMG. PS3’s too $$$. Sony Sux”, or anything like that. Next, Xbox 360:

Microsoft’s the young man, rich man, they got into the game and took the world online to play.
(Buddy you’re a young man, hard man, shoutin in the street gonna take on the world some day)

They drew first blood in this race, can they keep up the pace? I hope they don’t mind ending up 2nd place.
(You got blood on yo face, you big disgrace, wavin your banner all over the place)

Translation: MS is the young man, that is, the newest player of the 3 in the home console arena, the rich man because, well, I shouldn’t have to tell you, and once they got into gaming they showed people how to take console gaming online the right way, with LIVE, and continued that great implementation (actually improving it) with 360. They came out first, by a whole year, of the three, but would they keep selling as many consoles as they were once these other two machines came out? They were the leader by a mile at the start of this generation, but there was a danger they may lose their chart-topping position once the affordable Wii, and powerful PS3 were released. These two lines I don’t believe need much “this isn’t a fan boy rant” explanation, as they are actually relatively pro-Microsoft in a way. Now, the Nintendo verse:

Nintendo is the old man, wise man, and their big surprise was to change the whole way we play.
(Buddy youre an old man, poor man, pleadin with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day)

They’ll put a smile on your face, through innovation and grace, this system could put them back into 1st place.
(You got mud on your face, you big disgrace, somebody better put you back in your place)

Translation: Nintendo is over 100 years old, hence the old man, wise man line, and of course they surprised everybody when they unveiled the Wii Remote at E3. They touted the machine as a ‘revolution’ (~_^) in gaming, and every picture of someone interacting with the remote showed a big goofy smile on their face (this is especially evident in all of Nintendo’s promotional materials for Wii). The Remote was definitely innovative, and it looked like many movements in some games required a certain grace to pull off, that could only be done with such a controller (again, this is what most pre-launch videos and materials highlighted). And after their slow sink to the bottom of the industry (for home consoles that is, starting with N64, leading to the disappointment of GameCube), this super-hyped, so-called-revolutionary ‘’new-gen” machine could be just the thing to catapult them to the top spot once again. That’s what those two lines meant.

Of course, between each verse there was the ‘Wii Will Rock You” chorus’, which really refers to the gaming industry, and the other companies, in general. It will “Rock You” in the sense that it will be a huge wake-up call to the industry that graphics and power are not the be-all end-all in videogames, but rather its the content and gameplay. And that you can expand the market too, bringing in more gamers who feel “rocked” by how playing on Wii ‘feels’, compared to more traditional games. That pretty much sums that up I guess.

So, the whole song was based on what had been shown prior to launch, the gaming climate at the time, and what I thought would happen at the start of this generation. Again, not what I wanted or hoped to happen like in a fan boy-ish type of way, just pure speculation. I’ll say this though: I’m a video game fan boy, that is, I’m a fan of gaming in general, not individual profit-based corporations. I play everything from Wii to 360 to Dreamcast to PS2 to DS to whatever, all the way back to Atari 2600, you name it, I have that system (except for Neo*Geo, or, yet, a PS3), and play it, and love it, ‘case I’m a gamer, dammit.

Yeah, this song was a funny idea, and I still stand by it as a parody, but I don’t like the unnecessary fan boy connotations & branding that comes with it. I was trying to think of a way to make a video that praises PS3, or even 360, just to make it all even, but I thought why bother really? The only person who’s gonna call me a Nintendo Fanboy is either a Sony or Microsoft Fanboy, so really, who am I trying to please by doing that? Exactly, it pointless, so I just say enjoy it if you dig it, go find a Pro-Sony or MS video if you don’t, but please listen closely to the lyrics before slinging accusations around. I don’t mean just me personally, I mean the whole internet. There’s an almost tourette’s-syndrome-like thing online that causes people to brand others blind fan boys if they simply claim to ‘like’ something. It’s really quite silly.

Well, that’s all the time I’m gonna spend typing about that, I feel I’ve explained myself rather thoroughly there, and well, you can think whatever you like. The funny thing about everything though? It’s almost like I wrote a prophecy or something (OK, I’ll calm down), because nearly everything that I said could happen, did, in a way. Weird, man. I did have an idea a couple months back for a follow-up to this video, a sequel if you will, done with the other half of the song, “We Are The Champions” (with ‘We’ changed to ‘Wii’, of course), and even wrote half of it out (I’d definitely say it was much, much funnier than this one too), but I nixed it. Only a pure Nintendo Fanboy would make a video like that. ;P

-Kimo

‘Tis the season to empty my wallet.

Why, oh why, must there be so much video gaming goodness coming out this holiday season? Just how in the hell am I supposed to afford all of these choice titles I’m interested in, let alone find the time to play them?!? Yes, much has been said on these internets about the glut of AAA games being released so close to each other, but c’mon, this is nuts. Its unprecedented! Even if you leave out all the great games that have recently been released that I either haven’t had the time to complete (I’m looking at you, Metroid Prime3, and Halo 3), haven’t had the time to even start a game yet (sigh, soon Zelda PH, soon) or haven’t had the opportunity to pick up yet (every time I wanna get The Orange Box, something else comes up…), there are far too many options I see coming my way in the next little while. These are gonna be some tough choices in the days ahead, hell, this week alone I’m struggling with what to pick up: Guitar Hero III, or Zak & Wiki? And even if I totally buckle and get both of ‘em (lucky me, birthday money this week), those are apparently a couple of long-lasting, fun, great games which I’ll be playing for god-knows how long, where am I gonna find time for all the other great games ahead? I just absolutely know that Super Mario Galaxy will own me once I get it, and it’s a no-brainer day-one purchase, but then when will I have time for anything else?

And hey, that’s just a couple games for Wii, never mind all the other great games coming for 360 and DS (and the Wii) between now and the years end, I don’t know where I could possibly find the time to play all the games that look good to me, rental or purchase, there’s just not enough gaming hours in the day for all the quality that’s coming our way. This could only be worse if owned a PS3 too, as Eye of Judgement looks like a ton of fun, Ratchet & Clank Future would so rock my socks off, and I just know I‘d never put down Everyday Shooter if I had it. Haze looks frickin’ awesome too. This is truly a great time to be a gamer, as there’s something for just about everyone out there, but you know what? It’s a rather crappy time to be a hardcore gamer, as there’s just too much coming in such a short amount of time, it’s a real sensory, and financial, overload. It’s a funny thing to complain about - “there’s just too many good games out right now” - I certainly never thought I’d say it, but it’s true.

I was really looking forward to playing Army of Two this year, as it looks like a total blast, but now it’s early ‘08 for that one. I was also disappointed to read that Super Smash Bros. had been delayed until next year at first, then it dawned on me that I’d actually have more time to enjoy other worthy games before they finally came around, and I realised that it was really for the best. First time I’ve ever been glad about delays. Same thing for another Wii game, Forever Blue, which was originally supposed to drop on the same day as Battalion Wars 2 if I remember correctly (another game I’m trying to find some extra cash for, and if I do, will have to find lots of extra time for), but has now been thankfully delayed until February. That game is all about sitting back taking your time, relaxing and enjoying the underwater scenery, sense of exploration & discovery, apparently. And it looks interesting, like something that a gamer could unwind with, especially considering you can swim around with someone else over wifi (although I seriously hope that Nintendo wises up and releases a headset of some kind for voice chat by then). And as much as I’d really like to play it, and could see myself getting into it a bit and actually relaxing with it, if I did have it, would I be playing it or Mass Effect? Probably Mass Effect, but only if I wasn’t playing Mario Galaxy, or Ninja Gaiden DS, or Bwii, or CoD4, or Geometry Wars Galaxies, or Assassin’s Creed, or Contra 4, or The Simpsons, or maybe even still GH3 or Zak & Wiki, or….. I’m sure you can see my point here. There’s just too much good gaming to be had for any one gamer out there this year. It’s literally too much of a good thing.

I know that there’s usually time in the early months of the new year to catch up on everything you missed over the holidays, or just get better acquainted with what you did pick up or receive, but there’s so much coming out that there still may not be enough time in the day for gamers out there to play everything they want to. This is made even more evident when you look at how many high profile games are coming out in the first half of 2008. Even if you just look at only the so-called ‘casual’ system, Wii: There’s of course the aforementioned juggernaught Super Smash Bros., the equally-likely-to-be-huge Wii Fit w/balance board (which my Mom told me I have to get, go figure; I‘ll even be competing w/my Mom for console time…), and of course online Mario Kart, as just 3 examples for Wii alone that will be asking me to play them early next year (plus, as mentioned earlier, Forever Blue). That would do me in even if all I played was Wii, but then when you factor in all the 360 & DS games that I’ll also likely be coveting during that time period as well (don‘t even get me started….), I could go mad I tells ya. I’ll have to pick and choose this amazing game instead of that amazing game, every time I go game shopping. If my wife thinks I spend way too long at EB when we’re at the mall now, just what’s she gonna say over the next few months? And for the first time I’m actually kinda glad I don’t have a PS3 yet, as I’m sure MGS4 would command every single idle minute I had. There’s just not enough time

Oh well, there’s certainly worse things one could be complaining about, but I just wish these companies could stretch out these AAA titles a little bit over the year, my bank account and free time can’t keep up as it is. You know, Dickens really said it best as far as it pertains to diehard gamers this year; “It was the Best of times, it was the Worst of times”.

-Kimo