I am finally crazy enough to do it. One week with my Wii, 4 hours a day. That's 28 hours of Wii. I'll be playing 24 retail titles. No virtual console or I'll just sit and play Punch-Out the whole time, lol. 8 of these games have never even been opened.

The games are:

Warioware: Smooth Moves

Mario Party 8

Super Paper Mario

Tiger Woods 07

Rayman Raving Rabbids

Wii Sports

Link's Crossbow Training

SSX Blur

Mercury Meltdown Revolution

Super Smash Bros Brawl

Metroid Prime 3

Zelda: Twilight Princess

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition

Pinball Hall Of Fame: Williams Collection

Super Mario Galaxy

No More Heroes

Wii Play

Manhunt 2

Sonic And The Secret Rings

Soulcalibur Legends

Ghost Squad

House Of The Dead 2&3 Return

Nights: Journey Of Dreams

I refuse to waste money on Mario Kart Wii or Wii Fit for this experiment. I have the majority of the major Wii exclusives to work with here along with some of the better 3rd party titles. Let's see where this goes.

Next Friday: Results and the reveal of the next 3xP3rim3nt....

Ah, the slow Summer release schedule! I actually enjoy it these days as I have less and less time to myself to play as I get older. There is no denying that this Summer had far more high profile releases than last Summer. Let's do a rundown of the games I picked up so far and the games I will be picking up in September as Summer closes out. All of these games are don't miss titles if you have the money to grab them up.

Already Purchased: GRID (X360), Ninja Gaiden 2 (X360), Bourne Conspiracy (X360), Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3), Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (X360), Soulcalibur 4 (X360), Madden 09 (X360), Tiger Woods 09 (X360), Geometry Wars 2 (X360)

Almost all of these titles are available on 360 or PS3 with the exception of MGS4, NG2 and Geometry2. There are of course dumbed down "All-Play" versions of Madden and Tiger Woods available for the Wii, but why bother when the PS3 and 360 have the superior versions?

Coming Soon: TNA: iMPACT!, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Silent Hill: Homecoming

Once again, avoid the Wii versions of TNA and Star Wars as they are just crummy compared to the high-def offerings. No Silent Hill for the little Wii. Maybe it would pee its pants in fear? :lol:

All 3 should be "simply phenomenal". Now if only I could stop playing Soulcalibur 4 , Geometry Wars 2, Madden 09 and Call Of Duty 4 so that I could enjoy the rest of these games.....yes, I'm still playing COD4 daily. My copy of Halo 3 gathers dust for a reason. Once I hit level 42 and couldn't get any higher (trust me, 42 is pretty good) I lost all interest in Halo....now if only I hadn't bought over 30 Halo shirts, jackets, hoodies, etc. over the last 5 years!

Enjoy the rest of your Summer and play these games!

Well....looky here! Back in MARCH when I started telling people that the Wii was screwed after SSBB and Mario Kart Wii were out the gate I had Nintendo fanboys screaming of heresy.

They came to me in droves, plastic board held high and told me that I wasn't a gamer because I won't defile my Wii with the disc that contains the pitiful Wii Fit.

They didn't believe me when I told them that Nintendo had blown through their wad and wouldn't have anything resembling a new IP or decent sequel ready until 2009.

Did these people think that I was a newborn baby? Did they think that I was just a stupid kid? Who knows. How did I see Nintendo's Epic FAIL coming? I've only been a gamer for 25 of my nearly 29 years on this planet! Derp! Anyone who has paid attention to gaming for a quarter of a century should know how the industry works. Nintendo blew their wad in the first year of the Wii's lifespan and they have NOTHING LEFT.......for 2008.

What did you expect? A new Zelda? Mario? Metroid? Mario Party? Warioware? HAHAHAHAHAHA.......silly kids. It takes Nintendo YEARS to develop each new entry in its franchises. Even Christmas 2009 is a stretch for anything but Mario Party 9. Each franchise receives only one or two installments per generation. It's been that way since the Super NES.

So......Where the hell is Starfox? F-Zero? Not coming yet. That leaves the Wii in a ton of trouble with the true gamers. Sure, the casuals (it's such a dirty word) will keep buying the Wii and they will buy plastic boards to stand on and some nice shovelware titles for $20-$30 a piece for their kiddies........But what about the REAL GAMERS?

Ohhhhhhhh. We get the shaft! Thanks Big N!

And people wonder why I prefer 360 and PS3! Are they DERPIDY DERP?????? It's going to be a great Summer, Fall and Winter for my 360 and PS3. TONS of great games coming for both. Soulcalibur IV, Gears 2, Fallout 3, Too Human, Fable 2, Halo Wars, Project Origin, Saints Row 2, Little Big Planet, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, Resistance 2, Wipeout HD.....I could keep going, but that is enough to prove my point.

If you own only a Wii this generation then you cannot play any of these games! Get off your high horse and pick up a PS3 or 360 or you will be a very bored person in 2008 with no blockbusters to play. The truth hurts, I know........breathe it in. And that is why you shouldn't be a fanboy. You're bound to end up disappointed.

I'm not going to list the titles individually, but I will list them by console. The first number for each console is the number of unopened games I own for it and the second is how many games I own for it overall.

XBOX 360- 36 of 87

PS3- 5 of 10

Wii- 8 of 23

PS2- 12 of 60

Gamecube- 3 of 22

XBOX- 9 of 88

My reason: TIME!!!!!!!

Typical day:

Work- 9-10 hours

Sleep- 7-8 hours

Fiancee- 5-6 hours

Hygiene and Eating- 1-2 hours

It's amazing that I can find the time to sit down and play for a couple hours once or twice a week! And then when I do I usually have to play COD4 online with my friends or they'll think I don't love them anymore.....

I am never having kids, lol!

While I do enjoy the occasional debate about any particular game or system, I am incredibly annoyed by the wailing cries of fanboys caused by the poor reviews coming in for Haze on PS3. After playing a mostly underwhelming demo last week I knew that the game would probably tank with the critics......and it did. Enter the forum trolls and fanboys with their crying and denial. Here is a shining example of just one of them among many. This particular child is 18 years old and trying to argue with myself at 28 years young. God bless 'em! No, not really. I hate children because most of them lack common sense and good taste. To those of you that do possess it I give 3 cheers. Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-hooray! Ok, so I lied. I copy and pasted the other 2 cheers......anyways, here you have it. My posts are bold and underlined.

Deominator wrote:moshakirby18 wrote:gekidami wrote:Deominator wrote:gekidami wrote:mystery1932 wrote:

im not a sony fanboy, ima FRD fanboy. the game got harsh reviews cause the multiplayer didnt hold up.

But that cant be the case because the IGN review spends so much time down talking the plot it barely mentions the multiplayer, actually gameplay in the review is only a side note, the reviewer hated the story with a passion.

That might have something to do with other games in the genre that have had such good storylines that a game with a bad one just doesn't cut it these days.

Wha...? is that sarcasum? What was the last FPS you played?

I hope that's not how you think sarcasm is spelt, too many lolcats i think.

Anyway he has a good point, 2007 had loads of fantastic FPS games with brilliant story lines.

Exactly! Coming off a year where we got Bioshock, Call Of Duty 4, Halo 3, GRAW 2, Metroid Prime 3, Crysis, The Darkness, Orange Box, Timeshift and Unreal Tournament 3 there was really no chance for Haze and that's why they pushed it back. I would figure that is the same reason that Army Of Two was pushed back as well even though it's not FPS. There have been way too many good shooters in the last year. Timeshift is better than Haze and it got nailed with 6.0-6.5 scores nearly everywhere.

If anyone really wants to buy a FPS and they already have all the obvious ones, then I would suggest Timeshift or The Darkness to them over Haze.

Have you played the retail copy of the game or are you just talking to talk? Even if you did play it I highly doubt you'd give it a chance, you're mind seemed made up that the game would suck. And besides, I doubt you've even played it.

Cicatraz_ESP wrote:

Have you played the retail copy of the game or are you just talking to talk? Even if you did play it I highly doubt you'd give it a chance, you're mind seemed made up that the game would suck. And besides, I doubt you've even played it.

I downloaded and played the demo and have read the reviews. Haze is nothing special. I own all of those shooters that I listed in my other post. They are all far better than Haze in graphics, audio, gameplay, multiplayer, story, you name it. Stop trying to make a barely average game a success. My 360 and Wii don't cry when I bring home a good game for my PS3. Like I said before, I have all 3 consoles. I wanted Haze to live up to the hype, but it didn't and the reviews are starting to trickle in and prove that it wasn't just the demo that was bad. Even GS scored the game a 6.0, which is not horrible but not worth dropping cash on with MGS 4 just a few weeks away.

Why do you want/need Haze to succeed anyway? Do you own a bunch of stock in Ubisoft? No? Didn't think so.

(The next one is my favorite. It gives little Billy or Timmy or whatever the hell his name is the chance to make his mark on gaming history!)

Cicatraz_ESP wrote:

BenderUnit22 wrote:While I think Haze is rather mediocre in its design, a 4.5 seems a bit harsh compared to completely awful games like Turning Point and Hour of Victory, which scored higher than Haze on IGN.

I enjoyed the demo more than i enjoyed the entire game of Hour of Victory. This score is waaaay too low. I was expecting no less than a 7 at the LEAST.

Well, you could buy Haze and score it whatever you like here on GS. You could even write a review. You can do anything if you believe in yourself Billy!

(Little Jimmy has yet to post his response that will no doubt contain some hateful remarks and remind me that Microsoft has paid off EVERYONE to give Haze a poor review..........even though it is a 3rd party game.....:lol: Gotta watch out for M$ man! They are everywhere! :P)

*UPDATE: Johnny has replied and his response is life changing!*

Cicatraz_ESP wrote:Deominator wrote:

Firstly, I don't want/need Haze to succeed in any way. I'm buying the game regardless of reviews, I for one enjoyed the demo, and do not think IGNs review justified a score of 4.5. No I don't own a bunch of stock in ubisoft obviously. Is your last statement meant to make you look like a badass or something? Oooh tough guy. I don't own stock in Ubisoft so I should not care that IGN highly underated the score? What's the big deal. I own the game and have been playing all day, and there is no way this game deserves a 4.5 out of 10, is a what I'm saying. You can listen to all the reviews you want, I'll enjoy something if I find it enjoyable, not if other people tell me it is.

That's great for you that you are enjoying it. That is all that matters at the end of the day. I wasn't trying to sound tough. Thank you for letting me know that I am. I just wanted to see if you were rooting for it because it is PS3 exclusive or if you actually like it.

You say you like it and I can respect that.

*Bangs head on keyboard* Why do people feel the need to defend Nintendo? I have every system they have ever released besides Virtual Boy and I don't feel the need to run to the rescue of a multi-billion dollar corporation when they are out of blockbusters to release for their system for the next 6 months.

The Wii has short legs this generation and Nintendo has tapped the Mario well dry. Lets be honest here: The Wii can't compete against the competition in the audio and visual areas this gen like the Gamecube could last gen. It's almost funny how the Wii's supply of 3rd party games is made up of PS2 ports and if the PS2 were not still selling well the Wii would be mostly out of luck for 3rd party games.

If the PS2 retires after 2008 then the Wii's 3rd party lineup will get mighty small. I have supported the Wii with 23 retail game purchases and plenty of Virtual Console downloads. Mario Kart Wii may end up being my last purchase for the Wii in 2008 and that is why I am in no rush to buy it.

Call me a "Nintendo Hater" or "fanboy" all you want, but I have given more money to Nintendo in my life than most gamers have. When you own every console in a generation it is possible to make an unbiased decision on which console is the best. This does not rest on sales figures, resolutions, motion controls, online play, Blu-ray or hardware failure rates. It rests on the games.

By the looks of the future releases for the Wii I would swear that I was looking at the release list for the 3DO back in 1993-94. But hey, you'll always have Wii Fit and that awesome plastic board to hold over my head in triumph....

While it may seem harsh, it is true. May 2008 is a month that is lacking in blockbuster releases. April had Grand Theft Auto 4, Mario Kart Wii and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. June has Ninja Gaiden 2, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. May has.......Boom Blox, Wii Fit, Assault Heroes 2 , Bionic Commando Rearmed and a few Wiiware releases.

Now, go back to the sentence that had the word blockbuster in it. When the most prominent games of a month are almost all purchased via download that is a problem. I applaud Nintendo's effort to do something this month, unlike Sony and Microsoft who seem to like losing more market share with their inability to keep publishers on a decent release schedule. I expect May to be a huge success for Nintendo as Sony and Micrrosoft have basically set the table and left a dinner of cash on it for Nintendo in May.

That is pretty much where my thoughts on May begin and end. Comic Book Guy would be proud to hear me say "Worst month Ever". To be completely honest, I am backed up with unplayed games from 3 years ago to present. It's not like it really matters for me as all I seem to do is buy games and then never play them.

On another note, while I have never been accused of being a "fanboy", I have been accused of being a "Nintendo HATER". If that were true of myself then I don't think that I would have spent the time lauding Nintendo for putting out a solid month of releases. No blockbusters, but no duds.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, BLAH......video games are beginning to bore me after 25 years of playing them.

I took a 3 week break from GS to let some bad blood with some people simmer down. You won't see anything breathtaking in my forum posts from now on. Instead of well thought out responses there will be short and concise ones with no references to any individual and no game or system shall be put down in any way. 8)

I'll hit you with this little tidbit right off the bat. At 28 years old I personally know at least 20 people who own a Wii. I wish they could have been there for the debate, but we didn't decide to have it until it started......

Your panel consists of:

Dave (that's me! OMG!): Age 28, 25 year gamer, indifferent towards Nintendo since 1999.

Jamie: Age 32, 27 year gamer, indifferent towards Nintendo since 2000.

Andy: Age 26, 21 year gamer, Nintendo fan that is bordering on indifferent.

Jon: Age 30, 26 year gamer, Nintendo fan, but far from fanatic.

Remember, each of us also owns a 360 and Andy and myself also own the PS3. We collectively have 99 years of gaming experience between the four of us. We know gaming in a big way. This was fun. It shows that even the dedicated Nintendo faithful like the four of us can see what Nintendo really wants and who their new audience is.

Topic 1: What is your primary gaming console?

Everyone said 360. The consensus was that the Wii is a satellite system for the hardcore gamer and does not carry enough appeal to be the primary system for the hardcore.

Topic 2: What drives you away from your Wii?

Me: Shovelware, poor motion controls in some games, milking Mario.....

Jamie: Poor online, no voice chat, motion controls in general.

Andy: Too many kidz games, lack of games for hardcore/mature audience, milking Mario.

Jon: Poor online, kidz games, no must have games in the next 4-5 months.

Topic 3: What are you looking forward to for the Wii?

Me: Mario Kart and then ??? Nothing until fall after Mario Kart.

Jamie: I can't wait for Mario Kart! (This guy is a heavy metal rocker with maces and swords on his walls and dragon statues and other crazy stuff in his house. Think Metalocalypse, except this guy has been doing it for the last 15 years.) Besides that......um......Soulcalibur IV for 360! Haha!

Andy: I want to say Mario Kart, but it seems like a step back from Double Dash. I might pass on it. I really don't see anything in the next 6 months that I want for the Wii.

Jon: Mario Kart and then it's all 360 the rest of the year.

Topic 4: What do you think of the Wii being marketed to kids and casual gamers?

Me: I hate casuals......they don't even qualify as gamers. They don't know the history. They can't throw down in Soulcali. They have never played an FPS, one saw my Halo fleece at a Gamestop and asked me what a "Hah-Low" was. They have no clue what a Ridge Racer or a Need For Speed is. Kids are mostly clueless as well. A few go back and play Atari, NES, SNES, Genesis, etc......but most of them first gamed on a PS2, Cube or GBA. They have no knowledge of the first 20-25 years of gaming history and their ignorance makes them ten times more annoying. Casuals buy almost no software because gaming isn't even a hobby for them and kids buy almost no software because they have no dinero.

Jamie: Bad move by Nintendo........just bad. Adults have money, kids don't. At work I hear people talking about Wii Sports and then I ask them what else they have for the Wii. The answer is always "Nothing, my wife/husband and I just got it for the Wii Sports after we played it at so-and-so's house."

Andy: Exactly! They can sell all the hardware they want, but if parents only buy their kids a couple games a year then there is money left on the table. And I agree about the casuals, they just don't fit. Casuals don't buy enough software and they could lose interest just as quickly as they "found" it.

Jon: I can't buy games for my Wii if they are almost all geared towards kids and casuals. I guess Nintendo would rather sell millions of Wiis than sell hundreds of millions of pieces of software.

Topic 5: How do you feel about Nintendo constantly recycling the same franchises for the last two decades?

Me: New IPs please......playing the same 6 franchises over and over is getting old. There is only so much Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, F-Zero and Starfox a person can take.....

Jamie: Same here, anything new would be nice. I hate how they play it safe and keep trotting out the same games every cycle. All of the originality seems to be on the 360 and PS3 these days.....

Andy: Zelda, Metroid and Starfox still feel fresh because they keep evolving. Mario Galaxy is great, but it's a dumbed down Mario 64 for kids. It's way too easy. And unlike Dave, I'm looking forward to Mario Super Sluggers. (I gave him the finger for that comment, lol.)

Jon: I don't mind it. I love the main franchises. They really do need some new ideas to keep us older guys with them though. After two decades of Mario, Zelda and Metroid you start wanting new experiences. But those franchises still deliver good games to a broad audience.

Topic 6: Will you buy Nintendo's next console?

Me: I buy everything.......so sadly, yes.

Jamie: No. I'll go with Microsoft and Sony next round.

Andy: No. I'm going with just Microsoft next gen.

Jon: Yes, but I don't see myself buying many games for it. Just the usual franchises.

Bottom Line: Nintendo has been shifting toward a casual audience since the DS launched in 2005. That's why there is a 360 or PS3 sitting next to many Wiis. The Wii is geared toward hardware sales more than software sales with the idea that more software will sell. That may be true, but it doesn't change the fact that hardcore gamers are buying more games for their 360 and PS3 than they are for their Wii. Nintendo truly has shifted gears and only someone with blind devotion can't help but be annoyed by this. How many hardcore gamers will purchase Nintendo's next console after being shunned this generation? I'd bet that Sony is going to regain some ground in the next few years because of Nintendo's "sins" against the hardcore this generation.

I had an interesting discussion at a small gathering last night that I will post my next blog about. All 4 of us own a Wii. All 4 of us own a 360. 2 of us have a PS3. Our discussion was about 30 minutes and focused mainly on the Wii. It wasn't all griping, I promise! There were a couple surprises (for me at least) as far as what people like and dislike and what they are looking forward to and what they wish Nintendo would do to reach out to the hardcore gamers. 3 of us have 25 plus years of gaming and one has 20 plus years of gaming. I will post it tomorrow when I have more time.

Mario Kart Wii and Gigantic Stealing Cars IV are only 2 weeks away! Peace out.