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| Review- Mega Man 9 |
| Monday, 29 September 2008 |
 Retro remakes are all the rage at the moment. With the recent Bionic Commando; Rearmed setting a very high standard for a retooled NES game can Mega Man 9 deliver in the same fashion?
The Mega Man franchise has in recent years become more famous for the way Capcom have milked the series over the years. Many old school fans of the series have become disillusioned as numerous spin offs have been born and the story has become more and more convoluted. Each of these new additions to the series seem to have added another layer or take on gameplay that simply wasn't needed. This however is a return to the principles the series built itself upon and is more like a direct sequel to Mega Man 2. It shares everything with it right down the same graphics, gloriously reimagined for todays consoles. No HD visuals, no hand drawn art style just plain old good 8 bit NES graphics. It would be incredible if someone could find a way to dump a ROM of this onto a NES cart and play it on the machine. (not that Gaming Corner condones piracy, this kind of experiment would purely be for fun!)
It can't be helped that there is this niggling feeling that this game could have used the kind of face lift that we recently saw in Bionic Commando. That helped the game to come kicking and screaming into the 21st Century world of HD. Purists will love the retro throwback whilst people will find the looks jarring and it may even make the game unplayable for those who don't wish to return to the days of old.
It is not only graphically where this title could be accused of coming up short. Whilst the music is fantastically retro and 8 bit it is not as memorable as the tunes from both Mega Man 1 and 2. There is something missing and none of the tracks are quite as catchy. Retro remixes of the old tunes may have been more preferable but would not have been in fitting with the graphics.
This all sounds very negative so far, but where the title really excels is the core gameplay. The basic premise is the same, work your way through 8 levels and beat the bosses. The clever part this system is you can tackle the bosses in order you wish, reach the end of their level and beat them and you will be rewarded with a power up that will help your adventure. Certain power ups help beat certain bosses, working out this order is an important part of the game. The platforming is as sweet as ever and those looking for a challenge will certainly be pleased. The level design is definitly up there as some of the best out there and is leagues above the most recent Mega Man games. The normal game is also supplemented with a smattering of current gen features such as in game achievements which help to increase the longevity of the title.
So which is the best version? Well purists would say that the Wii version is the best as it uses the classic patented D-Pad design that was present back in the NES days. Microsoft fans would argue that the inclusion of Xbox Achievements sets their version a cut above the rest, however the 360 controller does have D-Pad issues. Whereas the PS3 version with its own direction pad perhaps offers the best controlling HD smoothed version. Whatever the case if you are old school Mega Man fan you will find that whatever version you get this game will satisfy your need. There is set to be DLC for the game but so far it has only 100% been confirmed for Wii.
Mega Man is a NES game through and through it comes with a smattering of modern features yet it is clearly a product of the original era that the franchise was born during. Fans of the series will welcome the return a simplier day whereas casual gamers will be turned off by the decidedly ancient looking visuals and the difficult gameplay. One things for sure Mega Man has returned and is back to his best.
 Labels: PS3, Reviews, Wii, Xbox 360
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posted by flameboy @ 19:34  |
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| Top Ten Reasons Nintendo Suck |
| Tuesday, 16 September 2008 |
Put your tongue in your cheek and come in and read the reasons why Nintendo sucks as much as they do.
GameCube 1.5
That’s right, Wii graphics don’t match up to those on PS3 and Xbox 360 and neither do the DS graphical capabilities match up to the PSP. Gamers are a fickle bunch, if a game isn’t made on a blockbuster budget and doesn’t have impeccable photo realistic graphics then its automatically rubbish. When did we all become so shallow? There’s still plenty of power that can be squeezed out of the Wii and DS humble power, and far be it for me to say that games should try to be cartoony and creative. Who wants that, eh?
Waggle
Motion control? No you’re wrong there, that’s waggle you mean to say. Admittedly, shaking the Wii remote is used too much in games when pressing the A button would work just as well. That doesn’t mean to say that every kind of motion control in all Wii games is as boring as sitting and shaking the Wiimote. The remote has been intelligently used in plenty of games already; just because every single game isn’t revolutionary it doesn’t mean they all aren’t. Check out Zack and Wiki and see how varied the capabilities of the Wii are.
No DVD Playback
In this day and age, with the Xbox 360 pushing HD DVD and the PS3 pushing Bluray, you’d think that the Wii would at least side with one or the other- or even plain old DVD. But alas, no. In this day and age you would also expect that DVD players have been around long enough for anyone who wants one to have one already, but alas, no. Sure it might be nice for that extra bit of functionality, but this isn’t last generation anymore where the PS2 was popular as a cheap DVD player. The Wii doesn’t need to play DVD or anything other than games, and its doing fine as it is. Anyway, you’re bound to have a DVD player in your house or a computer that plays them.
Not Hardcore
Did you realise that just because your mum and sisters now actually fancy playing some video games with you, it means you are no longer hardcore? Uh oh, scramble! Move that Wii up to your bedroom, get the curtains closed, the lights out and play some Wii Sports alone. Yeah, now you’re hardcore again. How dare you play games socially- that’s so casual!
WiiConnect24…?
Friend codes, no voice chat, wait; does the Wii even allow you to play games online? Of course it does, and the system in place isn’t as bad as most would have you believe. So you can’t chat, so you have to trade friend codes, so it’s not Xbox Live, do we ever stop whinging? It seems not. Its all too easy to overlook Nintendo’s fatherly nature in that they always want to shield us from the big bad world, just because we have to input a friend code to add people to our friend rosters it automatically means playing the likes of Mario Kart online is boring. Just type in the code then play the games, I assure you they are fun. Go on, try it out.
No First Party Games
I said "first party games" not party games because we know fine well the Wii has its fair share of them. So then where are the games from Nintendo's big franchises? Well, take a look buddy- they are already released. Zelda, Metroid, Mario, all available and all damn good. But what’s next? Just Wii Music and Animal Crossing you say? I see your point now. Why would they announce games that are due out soon rather than tell us about other games that are still a year or more down the pipeline? I understand the mass panic now: we don’t care about what’s coming out in the short term but we’d rather sit and wait for what’s coming out this time next year. My mistake, carry on.
The Fridge!
They didn’t include a terabyte of internal memory with the Wii, how dare they. Actually this is the most valid argument on this list. The system of deleting data in order to make space to download new games is a bit of an obtuse decision. We do like to hoard our games and collect them all, so why can’t we do the same with our virtually bought ones? I just don’t know. But believe me when I say it is possible to make do with clearing out your fridge when need be- once you begin with it, you develop a ruthless streak that makes it easier to remove things from the fridge every time you need to do it.
Rare
Nintendo and Rare parted ways during the GC days and we still feel like we’re waiting for that space to be filled. During the N64 days Nintendo and Rare complimented each other perfectly and basically carried the machine through its lifespan, imagine that dream team at work on the Wii. Well atleast we can console ourselves with the fact that Rare have hardly set the world alight with their Xbox and Xbox 360 showings, but that isn’t to say that things would be so mundane if they were developing for the Wii. The Wiimote + Perfect Dark would blow anything out of the water (including Metroid Prime) and we would even get GoldenEye on the VC.
Too Much Success
The sudden turn of fortunes for Nintendo has caused them to rest on their laurels and just let the cash roll in. It’s a thought that lurks in the back of even the staunchest fanboy’s mind. So is it true? Well it’s true that Nintendo have changed, whether that’s for the better or worse is yet to be conclusively judged. In the meantime we should enjoy this new brand of gaming, if nothing else, the Wii has refreshed and reinvigorated gaming and has shown us that its really not just about upping the power of the consoles.
Nintendo Suck because it’s Cool to Hate Them
Just as it was cool to hate the N64 and GC for being kiddy, its also the cool thing to hate the Wii- if you are a “hardcore gamer.” Now that the Wii is the leading console and everyone and their grandmother is playing it, the machine can in no way be accepted by the gaming community. Rally the troops! We must change to supporting the PS360 and whatnot! Haven’t you heard, Wii Sports isn’t what real gamers play, you’re better sticking with the old ways of playing games, yeah, its all about the button mashing like it has been forever. Its cool to have to install your games, its cool to have to go through several SKU’s to find the one you think suits you best, its cool to own a machine which is guaranteed to break down on you rather than being guaranteed to last you long-term. If the Wii is apparently going to be outlasted by the other consoles predicted longer lifespans, then why is it that the Wii is the one that’s most reliable and most likely to last you a decade without breaking down? Ironic.
Labels: Nintendo, Top 10, Wii
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| posted by darksnowman @ 19:50 |
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| Preview - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed |
| Friday, 22 August 2008 |
Star Wars games have been very much a hit and miss affair of late. But with a new title in the franchise comes a New Hope. We look at the latest Star Wars spin off where the force is well and truly unleashed.
Games based on licenses are usually rushed jobs in order to fit in with the movie or DVD release of the said franchise. However there is certainly a good amount of sense in letting a game have a usual development cycle and releasing it as and when it is ready. Star Wars Force Unleashed is one such example. It could have been rushed out to hit this summer to tie in with Star Wars Clone Wars but instead it will hit worldwide in mid-September.
The demo of this game recently hit on Playstation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace and gives gamers the chance to let rip. Players take the role of Starkiller (interestingly the original name of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars film) fresh from his advertising orientated cameo in Soul Calibur IV, who is also the secret apprentice of Sith Lord Darth Vader. The game takes place between Episodes III and IV and follows the story of Starkiller as he aides Darth Vader in eradicating all the remaining Jedi, whilst remaining unknown to the tyrannic Emperor.
The game is a third person action game, a genre explored before by Lucasarts but very rarely one they have succeeded in. Force Unleashed seems about to change all of that. First lets discuss what really matters to everyone; the lightsaber play. Force Unleashed takes a style that has become typical to the genre since God of War was released. With a simple move set that can be used by the more casual gamer and still be enjoyable on the easier difficulty settings as well as having enough depth to create a wealth of combos for the more seasoned gamer. Each of the lightsaber moves can also be used in combination with a mixture of jumps and force powers. In the demo only Push, Grip and Lightning are made available, however the trailer at the end of the 15 minutes of gameplay reveal many more powers. One that is certain about this Starkiller is a Sith at the peak of his use of the Force and whoever is stupid enough to stand in your way is in for a beating. Both Lightsaber and Force mechanics work well alone and in tandem and there is immense satisfaction to be had in the use of both.
The demo level takes place on board an Imperial Shipyard. This environment provides a surprising wealth of locations and ways in which to use the Force mechanics. There is little better experience than flinging around Stormtroopers or even better realising the Force Push can be charged and send hangar doors flying open rather than just the edging it open with a quick press. The demo ends with a great boss battle (that we won't wreck for you) which helps show the depth of the combat system as well as reveals some Quick Time Events thrown in for good measure. As long as the game keeps up this variety of play and does not rely on the same environmental gimmicks but instead throws up new ones, it will prove to an entertaining action adventure romp. Finally lets give the graphics a quick mention, they look as really good with the bigger areas in the ship yard looking fantastic, this game will not disappoint when it comes to looks.
Star Wars Force Unleashed is released 16th September in North America, 17th September in Asia and the Pacific with Europe seeing the game hit its shore on 19th September. Be sure to check back for our full review of the game upon its release.
Daft's Opinion:
I was looking forward to this and I was disappointed. For starters the character model of Starkiller is pretty dire compared to his appearance in Soul Calibur IV. Yes, it is a pretty minor gripe and is only really noticeable in the opening cutscene of the demo but it's a bit strange that Namco have a better looking character model considering he is the central character in Unleashed.
Next up, the controls. Altogether they are solid and accessible but I felt slightly disjointed with the Force. Aiming objects with force grip tends to rely fairly heavily on auto-targeting, which itself isn't great, meaning throwing things isn't always as useful as you want it to be.
Finally, the fighting. Why exactly a sith, who throws TIE fighters about like matchsticks and can levitate in mid-air while charging up a force push with the view of quite literally wiping the floor with a squad of stormtroopers, is unable to move while blocking is beyond me. Similarly when swinging your lightsaber you are pretty much rooted to the spot which, in my humble opinion, leads to some stuttered fighting. Also the sudden occurrence of a quick time event, and I'm usually a fan of these, when facing off against the AT-ST wasn't particularly welcome since it's appearance seemed slightly random, but that could just be my unfamiliarity with the game.
However, some of these issues are probably symptomatic of the fact that this is a demo. Force powers get leveled up, hopefully improving their effect and efficiency. The level on offer was relatively barren, especially when held up against the other levels seen in Unleashed, but the interactivity shown in it was promising. The demo never manages to reach a high, it seems to stutter along. With all this in mind I still think The Force Unleashed has a lot of promise – I'm just hoping the demo is only hinting at what we can expect from the full game.Labels: Previews, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
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| posted by flameboy @ 12:03 |
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| Top 10 - Games to keep you sane... |
| Wednesday, 20 August 2008 |
 I've taken the liberty of kicking off the 'Top 10' feature with games to take your frustration out on, and generally keep you sane after being stamped on by the boot of life every day. Please feel free to add in the comments any game think deserves to be added to the list.
1. Crackdown
We've all got to the point where we just want to go all Incredible Hulk after being pushed a bit too far. You just want to pick up the desk you're at, hurl it through the wall. Let rip an epic roar, dousing the offending antagonist with saliva, and jump through the ceiling landing a mile or so away on an unsuspecting car with the intention of throwing the closest pedestrian into the rapidly approaching police vehicles.
Okay, that might just be me but Crackdown allows you to do things to this effect – while, I might add, allowing the player to keep the moral high ground. Crackdown is the ultimate in stress relief. None of this 'story' rubbish, no invisible walls or need to reserve ammo.You do what you want and your reward is that you get better at... whatever it is you were doing. If along the way you want to takeout a few mobsters, that's your choice. As long as things are burning, or are about to burn, you're playing the game right. It's more fun than working in a trampoline factory, getting paid by the bounce.
2. Project Gotham Racing
I've been with the PGR series ever since Metropolis Street Racer. "It's not how fast you drive, it's how you drive fast." That's one of the joys of the game; the controls are tight letting you swing your fantastically expensive cars round the narrowest bends with the perfect balance of ease and necessary technique. Also, in the same way X-Box 360 gamers have a Pavlovian response to the sound of an achievement popping up, the sound of 'Kudos' racking up is a heavenly sound, especially when accompanied by tire squealing. If you're lucky enough, or unlucky depending on whether you like these places, to live in one of the in-game cities you'll appreciate the deserted roads...something you'll never see in London. For the ultimate in stress relief, I recommend playing Cat'n'Mouse online. As a racing game, you're meant to race, not collide or put you opponent off in any way. Cat'n'Mouse, however, is about crashing into the other team, and not just that, you are actually meant to bully their weakest car. It sounds brutal... and it is.
3. Burnout: Paradise
You've had a long day at work, you're stuck in traffic on the bus or in your car, you're probably going to get angry, rattled, frustrated - not too unlike a caged animal. It isn't how anyone should end his or her day really, step forward Burnout: Paradise. If PGR was about how you drive fast Burnout:Paradise is basically about how much rampant destruction you can cause while driving fast.
Opponent getting on your nerves? Introduce them to a wall. It's the kind of instantly satisfying justice that you wish you could deal out in real life when say, babies are crying on public transport, or when someone sends you grammatically incorrect texts to save time. Burning rubber, high speeds, twisted metal, solid walls; it's the ingredients for one hell of a time. Remember kids, speed doesn't kill you, it's the sudden lack of it, that's the real killer.
4. Eledees
No one likes living in a messy house but it is undeniably fun making a mess. Eledees gives you a gravity gun and doesn't care much for the whole cleaning up thing. With the use of the WiiMote your job is to smash things around the place looking for little critters to trap and enslave, giving you more power to throw around bigger things. It's a wonderful cycle of destruction and mayhem. Combine that with the little screams of fear that the Eledees emit while you hunt them down, and you can be your own little family friendly dictator.
5. SingStar
Not much to point out here. Scream as loud as you can and pretend you can actually sing, don't worry, you can't. Then get rated on how you did by the most generous and easy to trick scoring ever conceived. Might not sound like much fun but it is. If that still doesn't sound appealing, something you can apply to life as a whole to vastly improve it, just as alcohol.
6. Earth Defence Force 2017
"EDF!! EDF!!", music to my ears. Earth Defence Force is a thing of beauty. It knows it is rubbish, you know it is rubbish - I know it is absolute rubbish. However unlike most games, that is half of the fun. In the same kind of way as Crackdown, mass killing equals bigger mass killing. The more you play, the more health you get, the bigger weapons you are rewarded with. You'll be pretty pleased when you get the Tortoise, a slow moving, homing tactical nuke. You'll be even more pleased when you find out that later on you'll get weapons that make the Tortoise look like a pea-shooter.
There really is nothing like seeing the horizon of a ruined Tokyo city at sun down fill up with giant ants as you fire off your Prominence MA. As you turn to face the next wave, and your missile crashes into the alien hordes, you won't fail to smile at the ants' death screams and their lifeless corpses as they blot out the sun. Play this in co-op and prepare to lose hours to it. I dare you not to smile.
7. Tori-Emaki
Okay, so a theme that might be emerging here is that violence means stress relief (Yes, I'm including the abuse of music in SingStar) so I thought I would have a bit of variation and that comes in the form of Tori-Emaki. Tori-Emaki isn't really a game though. It's more of a Playstation Eye based flash game. By imitating a Thunderbird puppet on an LSD induced trip you can manoeuvre a flock of crows around a traditional Japanese wood block print style landscape, accompanied with suitably breezy and relaxing music. It sounds stupid but don't underestimate the power of acting like at total inbred moron.
8. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
A game where you can suplex a zombie, making it's head explode. Where you can cap someone in the knees and then round-house kick them in the face. A game where one of the bad guys is an evil midget. It has everything.
9. Assassin's Creed
Love it or hate it - I don't care. There's no better way to utilise your pent up frustration than becoming a 12th century parkour enabled assassin stalking the holy land. One of the key reasons there is so much enjoyment to get out of the game is because Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, or Altaïr for short, has a real physical presence within the game world. If a beggar woman is annoying you, "Please sir, can I have some money?", don't settle for what you'd do in most other games and just kill her, do the humane thing, chuck her down some stairs and watch her roll. If that sound bite, "No you don't understand, I have nothing!", is really getting on your nerves and you have a brick wall at hand, smack her into it before she can shriek her last syllable. Just before people get up in arms about me being sexist, you can apply exactly the same method to the lepers - it's just they don't annoy me as much by repeating the same ear shattering sound bite at me for the nth time.
Swords and hordes are also on the menu as the enemy guards will actively stand by as you slaughter them one by one. It's a pretty rhythmic fighting system which I think suits the game. You can't beat the feeling when your sword connects perfectly and are rewarded with a bloody neck exploding execution.
Now picking the final game has caused me a few problems. Do I go with Portal and the energy contained within its gameplay, Mario Galaxy where I can bound planets or a thousand other different games that should really get a mention? Like I said earlier, feel free to tell me in the comments of games you would add to the list.
Finally, my number 10 goes to...
10. Super Stardust HD
I love this game. I loved it when it first came up and I loved it even more when trophy support was added. A game that fits in that wonderful bracket of easy to learn, difficult to master. I'll try and get my lyrical waxing out of the way quickly. The game looks phenomenal in all its 1080p glory. There is so much going on that certain tasks, like surviving for 7 minutes without dying in Endless Mode, are incredibly daunting but the game is so easy to get into, and so inviting to learn, that most will find it a joy to attempt such challenges.
There were two things that convinced me to put SSHD in my list. First, setting off nukes, sending a shock wave around the planet ripping to pieces anything in it comes into contact with, is awesome. Second, my experience of trying to get the 'Late Boomer' trophy. For this trophy you try and recoup 15 bombs on a rapidly busier planet where your only form of defense is swift dodging and bombs, the latter of which you really need to hold onto if you want the trophy. I managed to get 14 bombs and then those masochistic red triangles of death started to land and I though I was about to be annihilated again. I manage to swerve out the way for about 10 seconds missing rocks by only a pixel's width. Desperation sets in, my heart is pumping. Suddenly I see the supply ship carrying two bombs halfway across the planet. I boost. I detonate. As two magic bomb tokens hover in infinity, so close yet so far, the universe is coming for me. The massive gold asteroids want me, the myriad of rocky debris want me and the red triangles of death are coming for me, building in number. In blind hope I swoop. 13. 14. 15.
I've done it.
Shock, joy, relief. I've f*cking done it.
As the Trophy message acknowledges my achievement, I am blinked out of existence by the force of the universe. And that, dear readers, is the last time I will ever play the 'Bomber' mode on SSHD.
There we have it, 10 games to keep you sane.Labels: Console, Daft, Playstation 3, Top 10, Wii, Xbox 360
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| posted by Daft @ 09:30 |
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| Fanning the Flames: Luc Bernard, victim or raving idiot? |
| Monday, 18 August 2008 |
 What has now become known as simply Bernard Gate will go down as an infamous moment in the minds of many hardcore gaming forum members across the world. But was he simply a victim of the current state of gaming communities? Or did he perhaps leave himself open to this kinda of treatment as a result of the way he put himself in the public eye?
Popular gaming blog Destructoid recently posted a shall we say less than positive review of Eternity's Child. They gave it 1/10 and derided the game as worthless and not worth your time or effort in playing. The review did raise some interesting points namely in the introduction, highlighting how Eternity's Child had come to enter the limelight; "Talk about the game's creator, Luc Bernard, whose skill at self-promotion has put his work firmly in the public eye for one reason or another?"
To be fair the backlash from the review was far more from to do with the comments and it is really easy to lay the blame firmly at the feet of Anthony Burch and Conrad Zimmerman for their analysis in their article. Listening to the recent Podtoid does make the site shine in a far more distinct light as they defended their honest objectivity that is present in their reviews. If a game is bad you can trust them to tell you. They took the slant that Luc Bernard should not have gone and argued in their comments system and it is hard to not agree with this viewpoint. One thing they said is hard to justify was about his drinking, if this debacle has indeed led to Luc seeking refuge in alcohol it is surely not something to laugh about?
I recently spoke to Luc on MSN during the calm after the storm. It is clear to see Luc has taken all these comments very personally when he told me "You see when you get a certain number of comments on your blog telling you to kill yourself well erm lol you think and you're like ok if I continue I will end up like Uwe Boll". Uwe Boll of course the much hated movie director who seems intent on giving us videogame movies that are well to be frank awful. Whilst critizing a game is one thing there is no way you can justify personally targetting one and Luc has found both his personal blog inundated with insults and threats as well as his private email address. How is this in anyway fair? Certainly sending insults via email is an invasion of privacy and the arguement that he has entered into the public so is therefore fair game does not wash at all.
There can be little doubt that trolls have become the bain of the internet. Luc summarized it "forum and trolls are destroying everything", whilst this is a very broad statement and becomes a bit gloomy there is plenty of truth behind it. Trolls are a problem and if a reaction by them to a game like this can bring somebody to quit the Internet. This is something developers need to roll with and evolve to accept it. This new found culture of people going to extreme lengths to deliver their point of view isn't going to go away as new blogs and forums spawn every day of the week. It isn't going to go away, this kind of game conversation which would never have taken place on press sites prior to the up rise of the Blog. Bloggers aren't bound by the policies and integrity of the mainstream press and as such aren't held in high regard. Despite perhaps this lack of professional regard Blogs do create incredible reactions, controversial posts on popular Blogs seem to make the headlines as much as actual gaming news these days. Should developers enter the blogosphere though? Is it worth the hassle?
It does seem that whenever a developer goes into the public arena it only ends up ending in a less than favourable way. It is usually self preservation unfortunately Luc decided to compare himself with the ultimate forum whipping boy Denis Dyack.
Trying to compare himself to Denis Dyack of Silicon Knights was perhaps not the best thing to do. It's like George Bush trying to defend his war policies and comparing himself to Genghis Kahn. First up he went on 1up Yours and opened a whole can of worms by saying he did not approve of people previewing games, this of course had nothing to do with the poorly constructed demo of Too Human that made it onto the E3 showfloor, hey Denis don't want your games previewing? Then don't show them simple as. However Dyack didn't stop here, he has recently been running amok on NeoGAF and now alienating the very people who he is relying to buy the game. Luc Bernard on the other hand until this debacle has proven to be a very likable fella, with appearances on the Radio Ninty and N-Europe Show podcasts to name just a couple helping to reaffirm this belief.
As mentioned before I have had the pleasure of speaking to Luc on MSN and he does have an air of a very nice man, who is enthusiastic about what he does and has a lot of passion for the job. He was very passionate in his defence of himself. He explained his reasons for entering into the comments section of reviews and battling them head on, it was simply a case of fighting fire with fire. He felt his back was up against the wall and it would seem this is the only way he knew how to fightback.
Also of course Dyack has the advantage that of the six games published today he has managed to secure big publishers for those titles; Nintendo, Konami and Crystal Dynamics to name a few. Luc has not had this advantage he is an indie developer and any deals he has in place will likely mean he needs to hit a lot of downloads to make money from it. In conversation with him it is clear to see he thinks that this review from Destructoid has killed the game before gamers even had the chance to download it and therefore feels he faces a dire financial future if he relies on Eternity's Child as his main source of income.
Just for the record I have played an early demo of Eternity's Child and yes it did have glitches. However the potential was there, I think it had the hallmarks of good level design the sort of none linear mechanics that have been praised in games such as Castlevania and Metroid. It is worth noting the also the art style is gorgeous (something Destructoid's review did mention, see it wasn't all bad!) and Luc Bernard's admission that he will perhaps continue his stories through graphic novels will see this work survive in a different form at least.
In balance the truth likely lays somewhere between the two. What right do trolls have to publicly hurl personal slurs and taunts at a guy who is just trying to make a living? Comparing himself to Denis Dyack really hasn't helped in anyway, Denis is a different beast all together. Luc Bernard is a very friendly, likable, passionate and eccentric man; all traits which have unfortunately helped contribute to him being an easy target. One thing is clear though Luc Bernard will not be the last man to fall victim to the Internet forums of the gaming community. As the way we consume games evolves we also find the way we discuss games changes and everyone becomes a critic when they set up an account on any number of sites, its up to games developers to learn to use it to their advantage rather than let themselves get defeated by it.Labels: Fanning The Flames, Features, Wii, wiiware
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| posted by flameboy @ 13:00 |
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| Review: No More Heroes |
| Sunday, 17 August 2008 |
 It’s not too brash to say there just isn’t enough unpredictability in modern gaming. Sure, there’s enough variety of genres covered across the board, but nothing that quite flicks the Vs to the majority and runs around the field with its testicles showing. Legendary oddball Goichi “Suda 51” is clearly annoyed at this state of cosmopolitanism, and with No More Heroes, he has created one of the most unique games of this generation.
Of course, coming from the man who brought the world Killer7 and promotional toilet roll, it probably isn’t surprising to learn that No More Heroes isn’t exactly what you would call a genre game. If it is to be classified as anything, it would probably be best described as an arcadey-style action game, with sandbox adventure elements and several death-dealing mini-games with a nitrogen-powered motorbike thrown in the recipe for good measure. The story isn’t exactly sober, either.
No More Heroes starts with the main protagonist (well…) of the game, Travis Touchdown succeeding in auctioning for a “beam katana” lightsabre weapon on the internet, but then unintentionally being flung into a league of the country’s top assassins, and the name of the game is that you have to kill to survive. The basic gameplay thread that ensues sees you progressing up the league by taking out all the killers above you. This obviously comes free with the exhilarating opportunity to slice through dozens of personalityless suited goons in the main levels.
It should be noted that before all this even begins, the first thing you notice about No More Heroes is its how gorgeous it all is. Taking a leaf out of Killer7’s book, the whole game has a seamless cel-shaded visual direction. Married with the over-the-top violence and frankly unnecessary amount of f-bombs, it isn’t hard to look at this as a colourful variant of Sin City. However, unlike Frank Miller’s knack at creating interesting characters and engaging set pieces, Suda 51 much prefers to parody the inspirations it borrows from, from the instantly hateable dialect of Travis to villains that would make a Bond movie cast blush. However, not all these parodies are as harmless as these.
For example, the streets of the overworld are full of amusingly brain-dead civilians and blocky vehicles have laughably disproportionate collision boxes. Of course, while these “flaws” may be intentional, they’re still evident. It soon becomes a chore to navigate around the sterile Santa Destroy, and the mundane but financially necessary side missions just make the game outside the missions seem like a hub that you’ll come to dread. But mark our words: for the main missions – it’s more than worth it.
Being 10 bosses above you, there are 10 main levels to progress. Each one is totally different from the last in terms of design, gameplay mechanics, types of enemies and even one-off gimmicks. One level saw you simulate Travis’ dream about a 2D shoot’em up; so you were actually playing a vertically scrolling shooter for that part of the game. Suda 51’s own personal tastes shine through in No More Heroes, and they’re executed sublimely. It’s the boss battles themselves, though, that are really the game’s forte. A hugely diverse range of characters with mad settings and even madder, over-sized weapons – you’ll be biting at the bit to knuckle down and get scrapping. The fast pace and ridiculous difficulty ensures you’ll forget about the relatively simplistic controls (it’s essentially one button to swing your sword).
No More Heroes certainly isn’t a short game; clocking in at around 13 hours, with no room for multiplayer. The manic fights you’ll have will guarantee at least one replay, and there’s a wide range of collectable clothes for dedicated finishers. But it will always be the first time you play through it that you’ll remember. From the shocks and scares to the surprising and downright weird - with No More Heroes, Grasshopper has succeeded in making one of the most creative and diverse games so far this year. It’s an experience that truly needs to be experienced.
Labels: No More Heroes, Reviews, Wii
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| posted by D_prOdigy @ 15:16 |
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| Fanning the Flames; Little Big Mario |
| Sunday, 10 August 2008 |
Nintendo have been held in high regard for so many modern innovations in today's modern gaming climate. There is a little sub genre currently being created in Guildford, England that the Japanese gaming giants should have thought of long ago...Welcome to world of Little Big Mario.
Nintendo are undoubtedly the King when it comes to 2D platformers. Whilst it would be pointless to deny that there have been other great 2D games down the years few can match the long term consistency of the Mario's adventures. It's a genre that Nintendo created, but arguably they are close to losing their crown to the guys over at Media Molecule who have created the much critically praised Little Big Planet.
You cannot help but look at Little Big Planet and think it should be a Nintendo product. The Sackboy characters are as cute as kittens as well as being a merchandiser's dream. The Nintendo like appeal doesn't end there though. The levels we have seen from the single player (that needs to be unlocked to access different materials), have all so far proven to have the type of tight level design one would expect from teams such as Nintendo. Media Molecule have had to come with this all on their own though and whilst yes there are levels and mechanics that bear resemble to common platform stables there can be little doubt that there is mountains of originality tucked away. Nintendo have so many titles just in the platforming genre to draw on and use, imagine being able to draw on all the mechanics and power ups and different level designs from the Mario games of yesteryear. Being able to draw on such a rich heritage is something only really open to Nintendo as a developer.
 With such a wealth of titles, each with their own gameplay ideas, the possibilities are endless.
Along with the great level design, variety of play and fantastic mechanics demonstrated in the pre-made levels of Little Big Planet there is of course the innovative level designer where Nintendo have seemingly dropped the ball. Popit is the system used to create levels, it used to drag, drop and plonk stuff into your levels with such ease you can chuck together working levels with reckless abandon. There is no scripting or coding to be done, it is all done in game either alone or brilliantly cooperatively with other players. The Popit system is just crying out for the unique control inputs of the Wii and DS, pointer and touch screen, respectively. It looks easy to use and intuitive.
So that's why it feels like it should be a Nintendo product. Let's look at the reason why it isn't. It's not like Nintendo haven't ever included level editors in their games. Wrecking Crew had a level editor that unfortunately didn't allow for its levels to be saved outside of Japan owing to it originally being developed for the Famicom Data Recorder. Even the recent Mario VS Donkey Kong handheld series is helped by the inclusion of a level editor. However there is a theme here, why has no mainstream Super Mario Bros game contained a level editor?
It's simple Nintendo want to protect themselves, why bother giving users the opportunity to develop levels themselves when you can instead drip feed them iteration after iteration. New Super Mario Bros has sold a phenomenal amount of copies and is selling in its millions, over two years after it was originally released. Why would Nintendo want to potentially harm these sales when they release a inevitable New Super Mario Bros 2 hits the shelves? It is a shame as going on Youtube reveals plenty of imaginative people illegally using ROMS to make their own versions and twists on levels as well as totally unique efforts. Nintendo has always taken a tough stance against piracy and ROMS etc...what better incentive to give would be game designers to invest in a product that offers them more tools to play with than they will ever find by other means
Ultimately Nintendo has missed stepping up to the line with this feature as Media Molecule looks set to win critical praise for their innovative and supremely well designed 2D level editing platforming adventure.
 Just one of many possibilties.
It is not just in level editing and user generated content that Little Big Planet trounces Nintendo. Character Customisation is another buzz bullet point used to sell games, its something Nintendo has experimented with in Animal Crossing and more recently with the Mii Channel. However there is this over riding feeling that it just isn't enough. A Character Creator rich in options is always going to popular just look at the recent Soul Calibur IV to see the efforts people will take to make their favourite characters from other franchises. Nintendo have only made limited forays into this area the Mii system whilst fun to use is limited and has had no updates since the Wii's launch. The Sackboy's of Little Big Planet can however be customised till your hearts content with tons of custom options, including specific items from other franchise. Nintendo have dabbled in this with Animal Crossing, but the fact that the new City Folks Wii version only offers colour changing of sleeves as an extra option shows their lack of drive to offer true customizing.
Nintendo unfortunately seem to a company who despite their huge market lead and the success of both Wii and DS are missing one opportunity after another. You have to wonder quite how many more times they can miss stuff and still stay at the top. If we are to look at E3 briefly there were numerous examples of this. With WiiMotion Plus came the unveiling of the impressive looking Wii Sports Resort, yet this kind of peripheral is very much something the hardcore want the chance to finally replicate true 1:1 motion, so where was the hardcore game that will use it?
The moral of this first Fanning the Flames then? Nintendo you have the lead don't go blow it by shafting the hardcore, you can't rely on the casual to constantly keep the pouring in the money in that Nintendo Loyalists have down the years. Give them something that truly resembles true fan service and innovates at the same time. It's not all bad though we did after all have the stellar Super Mario Galaxy last year that showed Nintendo still have that magic.Labels: Fanning The Flames, Features, Playstation 3, PS3, Wii
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| posted by flameboy @ 15:39 |
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| Review: Defend Your Castle |
| Sunday, 3 August 2008 |
Wiiware so far is a service that has shown a wide variety of gaming experiences can be offered at affordable prices. Whilst the likes of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles; My Life as a King have the challenge of proving themselves worthy of the higher end prices, it as the bottom of the scale that things can be far more interesting.
Some of the games priced at the lowest current price point 500 points have the challenge of justifying the purchase whilst also admitting that the title is unlikely to be as fully fleshed out as the bigger titles. The advent of browser based gaming becoming a more prominent part of PC Gaming has led to simplistic free games becoming more readily available. Defend Your Castle is one such game that this very much applies to considering its origins. XGen Studios originally released the game on their website as freely available Flash game on in your web browser. The game has built up a very big fan base and avid following as well as leading to a flood of clones. So with all all this in mind the big question is whether this game is worth 500 points?
The basic premise of the game is exactly what the title says; Defend Your Castle. You have to defend your kingdom by fighting off an onslaught of enemies. Things are a bit laid back at first as you effortlessly fling away from the stickmen, but once you reach about Level 20 things step up and notch and the game really starts to become a challenge. As the games ups the ante a variety of different enemies begin to appear, stickmen armed with lolly pop, bigger bottle top headed grunts and so on. As your progress through the game points can be spent on improving the castle which will in turn help to make defending it that tiny bit easier. The first upgrade is the pit of conversion which allows you to throw in stickmen and add them to your ranks, they can then be allocated to each of the castles various departments. The most simplistic of these is the Archery, whereby allocating more converts results in a higher rate of fire. The best is by far the Mage turret which allows for wealth of spells to be unleashed on the unsuspecting enemies. The first of these is an eraser which rubs out the stickmen's drawn bodies as their button heads tumble to fall, the more you allocate to this the turret the better the spells.
The game is made infinitely more fun and intuitive by the inclusion of motion controls. There is no better feeling than flinging stick men up in the air with a flick of the wiimote, it feels much more involving than mouse driven controls ever could. Aside from the throwing of enemies the game also uses the standard pointer based controls we have come to expect from Wii titles. It makes defending out your troops between the various stations easy and seamless. Finally the D-pad is used to unleash your magic attacks on the unsuspecting enemy.
Defend Your Castle on Wii along with the unique control system also comes with a radically new and improved artistic style. Whilst the flash version had simplistic stickmen and quick drawings for the rest, this iteration offers far more. Everything is presented using real world objects; the stickmen are drawn in felt tip pen and have buttons for heads who occasionally charge the castle with lolly pop sticks, the castle is made up of a series of paper cut outs, the pit of conversion is a paint bucket and finally the clouds are made from the cheap see through toilet paper you used to have at primary school and are carried across the screen by blue pieces of string! All of these make for a truly fantastic looking and unique looking game, there is a special magic to found in the sense of glee experienced when discovering another real world object being used to feel the invaders. With this in mind its perhaps best to leave a few surprises and not wreck them all!
Unfortunately there is very little in the way of diversity and options in the single player. There is just defending you castle from level one upwards. However where this game really comes into its own is in multiplayer. It adds a whole new element to the gameplay as you fight towards the common goal of wiping out all the enemies whilst at the same time competing for the points to be crowned King of the Castle. Up to four players can indulge in the fun and with the maximum number of competitors things can become very manic and disorientating but that's all par for the course and part of the fun.
This is a perfect example of old school basic game design enhanced by the Wii's motion based controls which helps to offer an experience you won't get anywhere else. So back to the question is this worth 500 points? The answer is yes, it offers enough and is presented in such a great way that its brought up and above the flash version and if you find yourself wanting a cheap title to pass the time then there are few better than this on Wiiware the moment.
 Labels: Reviews, Wii, wiiware
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| posted by flameboy @ 10:53 |
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