I just want to take a moment and thank Gamespot for pulling no punches in their Wii reviews. Several of these half-baked, re-warmed Wii-makes are getting skewered, and I suspect rightly so. A smooth hardware launch is only half the picture. The hype machine is over, and I cannot plunk down $40-60 on any of these titles (except Zelda & Metal Saga) without a rental first. (And don't get me wrong, Zelda has its issues.)

Even the choices for Virtual Console are.. dubious, and I'm perhaps slightly annoyed that the lack of demos makes me have to research if Solomon's Key is really as good as I remember. Oh well, looking forward to more time, more content, and more GAMES!

Here are some choice links, blogs, and news excepts in no particular order.

Make or Break:
Mozy
WiiHaveAProblem

News:
12/11 Brits buy 50,000 Wiis in 12 hours
12/08 Q&A: Nintendo's Rob Lowe on the UK launch
12/07 Nintendo looking into broken Wii straps
12/07 UK launch: Wii draws the crowds
12/06 Nintendo Wii's quiet Aussie launch
12/01 Wii sells out across Japan
12/01 Japan counts down to Wii launch
11/28 Colbert KO's Wii
11/28 Wii Sims get Mii-ish makeover
11/27 WSJ: First cases of "Wii Elbow" reported
11/27 Over 600,000 Wiis served
11/23 /. Wii-fi reverse engineered
11/21 TG-16 games arrive on Wii
11/20 CNN Tiny Springs
11/19 CNN Wii's midnight launch goes smoothly
11/19 Wii, Reggie take Manhattan
11/19 West coast launch: Gone with the Wii
11/18 Wii: Hello to Hollywood
11/18 Q&A: Reggie preps for the launch
11/18 Wii Play confirmed for North America
11/18 Virtual console up and running
11/18 Wii warriors fill streets of Manhattan
11/17 Nintendo wanted $100 Wii
11/17 Wii NYC: The line starts here
11/16 Some Wii channels tuned out

Reviews: (13-Dec-06 from 19-Nov-06)
(Gamespot score & GameRankings average with 4+sites)
GS:8.3 ~ GR:72% : Super Monkey Ball (from 77%)
GS:5.1 ~ GR:75% : Excite Truck (from 74%)
GS:7.2 ~ GR:73% : Call of Duty 3 (from 82%)
GS:5.1 ~ GR:43% : GT Pro
GS:8.4 ~ GR:84% : Madden
GS:8.0 ~ GR:79% : Raving Rabbids (from 80%)
GS:8.8 ~ GR:95% : Twilight Princess (from 97%)
GS:7.8 ~ GR:77% : Wii Sports (from 80%)
GS:6.0 ~ GR:75% : Tony Hawk (from 80%)
GS:8.0 ~ GR:83% : Trauma Center (from 81%)
GS:5.5 ~ GR:65% : Red Steel (from 66%)
GS:5.1 ~ GR:59% : Rampage
GS:7.1 ~ GR:80% : Marvel: UA

Blog entries:
GregK
LiK
AlexN
Emma_UK

-V-
---
The proper term is Nintendo Loyalist.

Admittedly I'm not a hardcore Transformers fan. I grew up with it; I've got an original Soundwave and Bumblebee on my shelf (thoroughly enjoyed and missing a couple stickers); and I quite like the PS2 game.

But one simply must acknowledge the 20th Anniversary re-release of The Movie. Fair enough, the actual anniversary date was August, but I'm not the demographic to remember that. Amazon tells me what's new, and I happily click-thru so they can gather their metrics. And hey, the U.K. got it a day early!

It's charming in a cheezy way that millions in America who grew up watching this animated series will get out and (hopefully) rock the vote today, and they can later enjoy, quite possibly with their mini-cons..errr... children, one of the seminal experiences of 80's popular culture.

One that actually saw humans in a hopeful light of limitless potential.

Vote Prime, for a better Earth.
-V-

At the risk of sounding Schaferish, are you waiting for actual monkeys to emerge from actual orifices?

Go buy it from Steam now!

You already own it? Me too.

What, it's going to look out of place next to your seven copies of Zelda?

-V-

Quite a thing these conventions. Sensory overload meets sensory deprevation.
I don't have access to a computer made since 2002 while in Tokyo, so this report comes through no small taste of frustration. The photo gallery may have to wait.
EDITIZE POST GO!: Flickr .:. Picasa 

The commute out to Kaihim-Makuhari is slightly farther than Tokyo Disney, outside of Tokyo itself. "If there's a bright centre to the universe... yadda yadda." It's pretty much the boonies for a central Tokyo resident. Very rarely is the Japan Rail system stymied, but this isn't the largest station by any means, and the crush of Japanese and Gaijin alike was equal parts amusement and gridlock.

The event and the hall itself is what you'd expect. Booths, fans, noise. It's a reasonable point to make that companies serve up the "booth companion" factor simply as a distraction. In some cases neither the product nor the booth itself warrants particular attention, and in others they simply do not want photographs taken of the actual merchandise, which may indicate back to the first point.

To be fair, Sony's products are not yet on the market, and everyone else just wants to build secretive hype. True to past form Nintendo was absent from the event in body, but not in spirit. Many other vendors were delighted to showcase their Wii offerings. And the crowd was appreciative. If you don't plan to enjoy the Wii on principle, prepare to become the have-not minority. And when you do finally get one, build up a thick crust around your ego so your neighbour and their grandkids can show you how to use it right.

Microsoft however can't get enough advertising, which also explains why they had the Common tote bag. Every convention has bags with covet-ability. 360 bags, or "blues" for the Blue Dragon logo, were everywhere. Sony bags required a trek to the farthest edge of their booth; Semi-common but highly coveted when you spotted them, they also happened to be the smallest bag, which is quite helpful in a maze of corridors with 70,000 people also with bags slung on their 140,000 shoulders. (Actual numbers may vary.) Ultra-rare were the ginormous cloth totes from the Funtasia vendor. Couldn't even find their booth on the second day.

I'm truly impressed by everything Sega is doing this year, which is rare for me. I haven't enjoyed a Sonic game in a looong time. There's nothing in their Q4/Q1 lineup I would intentionally skip. I can probably lean towards Microsoft very soon. There is no arguing DOAX2 is going to sell a LOT of systems; more than they believed N3 would. It looks utterly fantastic whether you like the content or not, and honestly your choices right now are zombie blood, winter parkas, or swimwear, so just look yourself in the mirror before you make that call, and proclaim it with gusto. I will likely buy the console on X2esday. Gyahar.

Oh, Ninja Gaiden on PS3?! d00dz! The Team is double dipping.

The North American market is missing a truly massive market of portable games. I really want to buy a DoCoMo cell phone, load it up with software and bring it back to Canada and my province's castrated service, like Marco Polo with cocoa and spices. If you only play games in front of a TV, I guess that's okay. There's bears outside, I know.

One of the games I attempted to wait in line for was Coded Arms. Yes, I apologize. I wanted the glowing wristband to complete the set. The loudspeaker sports commentary was crushingly painful, and after 10 minutes I realized I had seen the entire game. But I like Tron, so I'll give it a rent.

Speaking of loudspeakers, you can't truly appreciate the music in Phoenix Wright until you've heard it at 2000 watts. HOLD IT! And you do.

-V-

A joyous long weekend to you. I felt I'd earned a holiday, so at long last I rented a 360 console, and many top-flight games in addition to the few I've snagged from eBay on the cheap. Currently Ridge Racering between sentences. Let me backtrack and mention that the first console the store rented me crashed and ate the disc in the first five minutes. [Insert Microsoft joke here]

The dashboard and live marketplace work as splendidly as I anticipated. There are still a few no-brainers they seem to have left out, such as prioritizing tiny downloads over huge ones, or simply reordering the queue manually. Cancelling a download also does not clear the downloaded flag. Silly really.

Live Arcade is undoubtedly a good venue for many traditionally "shareware" types, and the retro of course. Still, there can be a certain lack of production quality in some of the titles... whether it be menu design or the demo's limits (*cough*eclipse*), and I hope it doesn't reach the point where they believe the Live audience will swallow anything. I don't find it tasteful that most arcade demos lord the achievements over your head. I can appreciate the addiction, but it's just dirty pool.

I won't be owning a 360 soon, although as I mentioned I do own some games. It's just a matter of when, and whether the price is right. I'm simply happy to at last have a respectably adorned gamertag.

Other brief impressions:

• - Playing without a headset is best when all other players speak a foreign language anyway.
  
• - Dead Rising is not for the meek or weak of skill, stomach or eyesight.
• - N3 is Dynasty Warriors without the historical overhead.
  
• - 20 Gigabytes is no where near enough hard drive space.
• 
  

-V-

 From a time past, when game endings were worth watching...

The Chrono Trigger Endings Project

Why dig out and blow in your old SNES cartridge when the marvellous Tubes of the Internets can deliver everything your heart desires? For a full discussion of the endings and variations, please visit the Chrono Compendium. (Not affiliated in any way)

In case you hadn't already guessed: SPOILER WARNING.

Ending # 1: Main storyline proper (2 parts)
Ending # 2: No Chrono?
Ending # 3: Nu
Ending # 4: Robo & Tata
Ending # 5: Scene Clips
Ending # 6: Cast Sprites
Ending # 7: Masamune
Ending # 8: Reptites
Ending # 9: Frogs!
Ending # 10: Magus
Ending # 11: Girl Talk (and Chrono speaks!)
Ending # 12: Dream Team Staff cameos (2 parts)

Keep in mind that some of these endings are free-roaming. That is, they include exploring, conversation, and even battles!

If the text scrolls too fast for you, please enjoy the handy pause button provided.

Now crank that sound UP, frog!
(Apologies for any treble noise.)

Right on! My local video store is having a retro inventory clearance, with tables full of threadbare tote bags filled with SNES, Dreamcasts(!) and N64s. Also strewn about are a wide assortment of accessories, and virtually every gamepad variation known to mankind.

Right between the grubby SNES pads, and the crusty Genesis pads (both 3 and 6 button) were some boxed NES controllers. Not two in the box as pictured, but one lone soon-to-be-beltbuckle. A nice retro keepsake from the days when controllers actually came in flat boxes. Price: $3.99, AKA two toonies.

Across on a different table, near some RF adapters, gleamed a shrinkwrapped, near-mint condition... Max. For $2? Wicked.

And of course, all sales were final.




Let me tell you about my NES days. Nintendo carefully staggered the North American launch, because flooding the market during the final year of the Great Game Depression would not have inspired consumer confidence. Mattel didn't distribute the NES into Canada until 1986, and you can probably imagine it wasn't in great supply. I believe my parents wrangled one from a different province so's I could have one close to my birthday or Christmas or whatnot.

So there I was, happily enjoying Super Mario and Metroid. But I hated the controllers. Just hated it.. square and dorky and NO TURBO! Crazy man. So 98% of my NES gaming took place with the NES Advantage. Possibly the greatest joystick ever made: dial controlled TURBO, slo-mo, hefty to withstand intense english, easy on the hands, and a knob you could twist off and.. erm.. well these were my pre-pubescent days actually. ^_^;; And I was very good with it. The other 2% was using devices I never actually owned, your Power Gloves, your Zappers, your Power Pads... but I always coveted the Max. Easy to hold, built-in TURBO, and you just couldn't play Blades of Steel without it.



One of the best precursors to true analog control...
I salute thee, Max!
-V-

I'm pretty bored with the whole "ripping off" argument because I don't think it's the hardware's job to be original and innovative. You might remember it didn't work out so well with the Virtual Boy. Hardware is there to enable the developers to create experiences. Which is why you can often find that same experience on four different platforms...

Every console manufacturer right back to Atari has a particularly grand overestimation of the market and bravado in thinking They Are Right. Nintendo proves its dominance in handhelds; Sony proves that 100 million home PS2 consoles (+DVD player) is now mainstream; Microsoft proves that hard drives and online play are crucial to growth...

But they also fall short. Nintendo can't stick to one design or let you own only one of anything. Microsoft thought size matters, and it does, at the opposite end of the scale they started on. Sony thinks digital life is more exciting than digital games, and they just try to serve up everything while owning patents to the media.

Sony produced essentially the least powerful system of the current generation, and the content drove it to success (and DVD that doesn't require a remote.) Now they are at the front of the pack in hardware, and truly believe consumers want another computer plugged in, with a portable version streaming television and music when they're outside of the house or the country.

What I don't like is Sony's kneejerk reactions and 800-pound gorilla attitude. Perhaps I've said the same about Microsoft, but these companies both exhibit more muscle than brains on occasion. ^_^

Case in point, the controller. From batarang to dual-shake... They obviously thought for a while that the Xtreme Stylinz of the 'rang would win the public's heart... or just to make the publicity photos distinctive. And now... same dual look, same dual channel. No feedback, just feed-forward...
Great.
Kojima-sama is on record saying how disappointed he is that the controller was swapped last-minute. He said there was rumble content being scrapped in MGS4, and now there will have to be new shake content.

Nintendo doesn't seem to have any creative or technical qualms with giving us both motion and rumble... Oh wait, the external sensor... yeah, maybe they should charge us another $200 for the luxury?

Developers learned to make the lowest end PS2 hardware sing solo operas, and now with PS3 they're getting the short shrift. Especially with two hardware SKUs. I for one don't believe Sony has the first-party strength to carry $600 sales for itself. Selling 2 million consoles will be no problem, but the other 98M may need some marketing that is less prescriptive than "Just shut up and buy one already..."

-V-

Advent Children is certainly enjoyable in full theatre-quality sound and video. Disc 2 features are a treat. Disc 1 FF7 recap is enjoyable. We used to appreciate gouraud graphics like that... but I do like seeing a dialogue box subtitled in seven languages. That's mass-market appeal. HOW could this have taken so long without them bothering to re-sync the lips? Yes, I'd hoped.. almost prayed.. the time and budget was enough for resyncing an accurate translation. Sadly sadly no. And of course they over-dub a little. Yes, Cait Sith is Gaelic, but in what universe is he meant to have a Scottish burr? Actually watching the dub with English subs is most entertaining; when it isn't outright scary. Rufus: The Nightmare begins. (Haa!) Sub-Rufus: It's Nightmare Junior. (Huh?) Reno: Hello... Rude: Oh...no. Sub-Reno: Holy... Sub-Rude: ...sh**. Denzel: Sonnuvab**ch! (He's what, 10?) Sub-Denzel: You are dead! ... Sub-Denzel: I'm going back to the bar! Cait: Crikey lass, shut yer mooth! (WTF?) Sub-Cait: Wheesht lassie, shut yer geggie! (WTF!?) -V- Dilly....dally? O_o Nooooooooooooooooo..........

That's wiird man. O_o

Okay, other than needing a paragraph of designer's intent, Ii think it's a nice enough metaphor play, especially in Japanese. And it's not just a Nintendo system anymore, they (we) are a pluralty with TurboGrafx and Sega games.

Let's check the menubar up top there, hmm, every next generation system is going to have a three letter short form. That's pretty important I'd say. Rev? Well sure it's an energy-beverage and implies a rumbling engine under the hood... I didn't think they were planning to follow that particular track, as it were...

Uber clevar offshoots:
Y'know how SNES games were Super-everything? Here we go: Wiind Waker; Twiilight Priincess; Mariio; Metroiid.
Nintendo Wii-Fi
I know it's not how you pronounce the director's first name, but I find a football game called "Wii Bowl" amusing in a pathetic way.

Even Miyamoto-sama liked the Rev' of course. So after we have six months to adjust, I'm sure all will be forgiven. Seeing as the price stands to be half of the PS3 I've no reason not to preorder one.. or two.