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Nintendo Press Conference Thoughts [Rant]

At first, this was going to be a professional write up on the Nintendo Conference that finished minutes ago. Then I actually saw what was presented, and I just got heated. So this write up is more of a rant including all of my thoughts and speculation.

The biggest game announced was Wii Music which to me was just a huge letdown, and the drums look stupid as you just bang the air instead of a drum kit. Most of the conference was spent talking about how much money Nintendo got from everybody, including me, who were suckered into buying the white paper weight called the Wii. Reggie Fils-Aime said that Nintendo has a huge lineup, actually, “dozens and dozens in the next few months”. Three were showcased with trailers, which are; Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Rayman Raving Rabbids: Tv, and Call of Duty: World at War which will utilize another dust collector, the Wii Zapper.

On the DS side, a new Pokemon game was announced which will surely please the 10 year olds. A huge surprise was a new Grand Theft Auto game titled, Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars. Unfortunately, no gameplay was shown.

The biggest announcement was Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii. This game looks very interesting because it comes with a new peripheral, Wii Speak. This item will allow everyone in an entire room to speak, as opposed to a singular headset. On the trailer displaying this, the sound quality was perfect, it was absolutely clear, but I just hope this will be the actual quality when shipped this year. Players can also jump into other players worlds and see how the other player plays the game and builds the town, which is a really nice touch.

As I stated, this was a write up of my thoughts, so this was purely opinated. I did state many facts of what went on and what was announced at the conference, but I also stated why the conference was, in my opinion, an epic fail for everyone who’s not a soccer mom.

Tags: Conference, E3, Nintendo

Quick Megaman 9 revelation

Just a few quick words on Mega Man 9. The E3 trailer revealed it is not in High-Def 2D graphics, but rather in old 8-bit graphics. This surely upset many of those who have HD sets, but to those loyal fans, the 2 minute trailer gave them nerdgasms. The release date isn’t set, but it is set to release on all 3 consoles.

As a side note; Gary has quite a few words to say about this topic on last nights Vice News Daily, which will be up very soon for your listening pleasure.

Tags: 8 bit, 9, man, mega, old, school

Wii helping with Surgeries?

Hmm…yes this is a bit of an odd one eh? Well, I thought of this weird headline while eating dinner and watching Eyewitness News, and it showed a surgeon playing the Wii. Now when I first heard this I just thought, “Oh no…I hope they don’t mean they are playing Trauma Center. How can that possibly help a surgeon on the table.” But in actuality it wasn’t what I thought at all.

It seems that a local Queens, New York hospital had done a study using the Nintendo Wii and it’s unique motion controls to improve the surgeons hand-eye coordination. The researchers took one of the 3rd party Wii Sports golf club peripherals and modified it into a handle resembling a needle-esque object. Same goes for the nunchuck attachment as well. The game that was demonstrated was some marble/ball rolling game, closely resembling Super Monkey Ball.

The doctor had to hold the controllers as if he were performing surgery, and was only able to look at the screen. Now this does seem like a good idea in theory, but the way it was explained on the news program didn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense in my book, because there are actual surgeon simulators that would seem to work better than this study. Yeah well who am I kidding? This study showed that surgeons improved on the work table by 50%.

Way to go for the great research, and way to go Nintendo, now your system really can do everything, except have a good library of games.

You can check out their news story here.

Tags: doctors, Nintendo, studies, Wii

Classic games from the last 25 years according to Entertainment Weekly

In the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, which also happens to be their 1000th issue (congrats guys) they have a feature article which talks about the new classics from the last 25 years. Journalists Geoff Keighley, Wook Kim and Gary Eng Walk compiled a list of the top 50 games from the last 25 years. 

A few of the most notable titles of the list include Tetris (#1), Grand Theft Auto IV (#9), Metal Gear Solid (#10) & Gears of War (#20). You can view the list in its entirety after the jump.

Do you agree with the list? Also what are some games that you think were worthy enough to be in your top games of the last 25 years? Gaming as a whole has helped shape the world in many ways, so it’s always good to see it held up in a great light like this.

1. Tetris (PC)
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
3. Doom (PC)
4. Super Mario World (SNES)
5. Guitar Hero (PS2)
6. Street Fighter II (SNES)
7. Super Mario Kart (SNES)
8. GoldenEye 007 (N64)
9. Grand Theft Auto IV (X360/PS3)
10. Metal Gear Solid (PS)

[Via X3F]

Continue reading Classic games from the last 25 years according to Entertainment Weekly

Tags: 360, DS, ps, PS2, ps3, top games, Wii

Enter Sonic: For real this time

As I sit and watch all of these major franchises achieve new heights on next gen consoles, I can’t help but wonder where’s the glory for the original speedster. In days of old when Sega made consoles, it seemed like he was never forgotten, but since their hardware has gone under it seems like aside from 3 good hits on the gba, the iconic hedgehog is falling into obscurity with titles such as Sonic Heroes on the PS2,Xbox,and Gamecube and Sonic the Hedgehog for PS3 and 360, I was beginning to think we’d see the fall of a once so lovable character. Now I’m thinking differently upon the announcement of Sonic Unleashed. The game was originally going to be released as the third installment in the Sonic Adventure series as Sonic World Adventure.

The game is being developed by Sega’s Sonic Team division, who has developed an entirely new engine for the game titled the Hedgehog engine which allows for smooth transitions between 2D and 3D angles. We know the story revolves around the Dr.Robotnik summoning a creature that has caused tremors which have divided the continents into pieces. Sonic must claim the chaos emeralds to bring the world back together. New to the game and possibly the reason for the title “Unleashed” is a werewolf form that has been seen in a screenshot, wheather or not you get to play as this new form of Sonic or how it shapes the game hasn’t been stated by Sonic Team at this time. The Wii version of the game will feature a different control scheme and different stages to fully take advantage of the wii remote and nunchuck. The gameplay takes away some of the linearity that made older Sonic games less fun to replay by having an overworld to be explored, however it is skippable for players who want only the high speed action of past Sonic titles.

There is one negative, however, Sonic Team has decided to shoot for a frame rate of 30 fps rather than 60 which most games run at on next gen consoles. Although, Sonic Unleashed looks to restore Sonic back to his former glory with the same high speed action while adding new gameplay elements and deviation from linearity that once plagued even the greatest of Sonic titles. The game will be released for Xbox360, Playstation 3, Wii and Playstation 2

Tags: PS2, ps3, Sega, Sonic, Team, Unleashed, Wii, Xbox360